By Daniel Kanu
Assistant Politics Editor
The leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA) appears to be in crisis following a disagreement over choice of candidates for the 2019 presidential election.
The crux of the matter is that the faction under the Victor Oye leadership is angling for a Presidential hopeful with public appeal and credentials who could fly the party’s ticket in the 2019 election.
TheNiche authoritatively gathered that the cracks are becoming obvious as some powerful individuals within the faction seem also to be cleverly strategizing and shopping for candidates they can influence to fly the party’s ticket in 2019.
Although the party’s National Chairman, Dr Victor Oye, denied an endorsement rumour recently, there are strong indications given the filler from the APGA national office that the scheme is in top gear.
“The national leadership of our great party, APGA, under the leadership of Dr Victor Oye, is shopping for eminent candidates to fly the presidential flag of our great party. There is no going back,” a source at APGA national secretariat confided to TheNiche.
The Imo state Publicity Secretary of the party, Dr. George Nkwoji, said recently that the leadership of the party would not toil with the political aspirations and interest of the Igbo people as the party belongs to all.
It would be recalled that in October 5, 2016, at an NWC meeting convened by Oye, issues of gross misconducts and breaches of APGA constitution were among others raised against him and others.
The chairman and others involved were suspended by the NWC and a disciplinary committee was set up and Ozo Nwabueze Okafor was appointed acting National Chairman being the most senior officer from the zone of the removed chairman.
In that meeting, Martin Agbaso was appointed Acting National Deputy Chairman, following the death of Ozo Nwabueze Okafor.
After his burial on 27/1/17, the NWC convened a meeting at Enugu on 30/1/17 and appointed Martin Agbaso to replace the late Nwabueze Okafor.
At the moment APGA has two factions: Oye-led faction and that of Agbaso.
The case is still in the Supreme Court as to determine the authentic national chairman of the party.
