The crisis rocking Ebonyi State chapter of the All Progressives Congress(APC) may be far from an end as the two factions in the party held parallel ward congresses in all the 171 electoral wards across the state.
The congresses were conducted by the two factional chairmen of the party in the state, Hon. Ben Nwaobasi and Pastor Eze Nwachukwu Eze.
The two factions are loyal to the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and governorship candidate of the party in 2015
the general election, Senator Julius Ucha.
Nwachukwu faction has the support of Onu while the Nwaobasi faction has the support of Ucha.
As the Nwobasi faction was conducting its Congresses in all the wards, the Nwachukwu faction was at the factional party secretariat along Abalaiki/Afikpo road waiting for the distribution of Congress materials.
Nwobasi, however, alleged that the seven-man committee led by Mr Ajayi Nicholas was hijacked by the group loyal to the Minister of Science
and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu.
The chairman expressed disappointment that the committee absconded while the exercise was going on in the state.
Nwobasi said: “the committee arrived and went to the factional Secretariat, anchored by the state Vice-chairman of the party, Eze
Nwachukwu who elevated himself as the Acting State chairman who was foisted on the Party by the National Secretariat to please the Minister,
Onu”.
“These issues were addressed when the committee arrived in Enugu where they lodged in a hotel. But after visiting the state Commissioner for Police, Titus Lamorde and the state Director of SSS, they returned back to their Enugu hotel. While we conducted our Congresses in the
171 wards in the state, we understood that Onu led group facilitated by Nwachukwu went to Enugu to submit made- up results. The committee
absconded.
Our correspondent monitored the exercise in Ikwo council area and other wards in the state where they were large turn-out of people.
The Congress committee chairman, Ajayi Nicholas said that he would meet with the two factional leaders and stakeholders of the party with
the aim of arriving at a consensus.
He added: ” if they fail, we will invoke the powers of the national chairman of the party and conduct the election according to our
conscience. We have a state chairman, Eze Nwachukwu. He will guide us.
We will consult him. Is God that put him there. Where we discover that he’s playing pranks, we will suspend him and use a local government chairman and conduct the election and write our result “.
.new telegraph
