Gideon Arinze in Enugu
Leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, has identified the campaign money of its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, was at the heart of its crisis, saying the plots to remove its chairman, Ugochukwu Agballah and his executives from office would fail.
Stakeholders in the state had last Tuesday in Abuja, asked the National Working Committee and leadership of the APC to remove Agballah, whom they accused of ‘appropriating the state party as a personal possession alongside his executives.
Led by former President of the Senate, Senator Ken Nnamani; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; immediate past governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, and Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, the team declared, after meeting with the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, at the APC Secretariat in Abuja that the move was the only means to rescue the ailing party in the state.
A chieftain of Enugu APC, Nweke Gbazuagu, who was part of the delegation said the agitation for his removal also became necessary following Agballa’s suspension at the state level.
Reacting to the plot to remove Agballa during a stakeholders meeting yesterday, governorship candidate of the party, Uche Nnaji, alongside ward and local government representatives of the party said, Agballa could not be removed as chairman, because he has reawakened the spirit of the party in Enugu State since he came on board.
Nnaji said he, alongside Agbala and his executives had so far travelled across 190 wards and 240 communities across 13 LGs in the state ahead of the election in 2023.
“It is unprecedented in the history of the party in the state and shows how prepared we are to not only contest the election but also win,” he said.
He maintained that the APC had never been a political party in Enugu state till Agballa came on board as chairman, adding that leaders were not even paying for their ward offices across communities.
“Now, we have come to make the system work again and they want to remove the man,who is making everything work. Our executives are doing well and deserve every support they need,” he said.
The leaders, therefore, passed a vote of confidence on Agballa and advised mischief makers, who were trying to remove him and his executives just about six months to the election to retrace their steps.
