All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has penciled down its national convention for May 21 where its Imo State governorship candidate, Emma Iheanacho, is likely to be elected National Chairman.
The tenure of Victor Umeh as Chairman, which was extended by 120 days at the last convention in Awka, expires at the end of this month.
Former Senator Alphonsus Igbeke (from Anambra) had been considered to replace Umeh after Austin Ndigwe (also from Anambra) was dropped.
Anambra Governor, Willie Obiano, was under pressure from party leaders to drop Igbeke and zone the chairmanship to another state in the South East.
A source in APGA said its problems “have to do with allegations by party members from other states in the South East that Anambra hijacked the leadership, with Victor Umeh remaining as National Chairman, former Governor Peter Obi as the then Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairman, and now Willie Obiano replacing his predecessor in the same position.”
Agitation for power shift in APGA leadership is bolstered by the long campaign by its Elders Forum Chairman, Sylvester Alor, who wants Umeh to give way for a rejuvenated party.
“I don’t have anything against Umeh,” Alor explained. “All I wanted was for the party to be restructured. That way he will step aside and we put him in the Senate and then work to win in other places but my suggestion was jettisoned.
“Nobody cared. Then I wrote it down and said, let it be on record that I wrote it. They will watch and see the party sink into oblivion.
“Out of 11 National Assembly (NASS) seats, APGA could only win two, even when the government is controlled by APGA. Such a thing should not happen.
“I have issues with the autocracy Victor wields, the intolerance and arrogance. All these things are not in the interest of the Igbo. We told him, ‘pipe down and we will support you,’ but he refused.
“Even when [Obiano] told him to come and see me, I told [Obiano] that this boy won’t come because he is a very arrogant person. Obiano said he would compel him to come and I said I would wait to see him succeed.
“At the end of the day he never came. So, you can see the character of the person we are talking about. All I know is that good things will emerge.”
Iheanacho appears to have been endorsed by the APGA leadership to harmonise all factions and interest groups.
The Umeh faction is pulling all stops ahead of the convention, but Maxi Okwu, who has been laying claim to the National Chairmanship, is waiting in the wings to institute contempt proceedings against the faction.
Okwu is at the Supreme Court challenging the verdict of the Court of Appeal which affirmed Umeh as National Chairman, and told TheNiche that Umeh cannot purport to conduct a national convention with the case pending in court.
His words: “I am aware of the meeting held in Abuja by the Umeh group, but I am not bothered and I am not interested. But whatever they do has two major problems.
“One, there is a pending appeal at the Supreme Court and if we win, all they have done would be a nullity and of no effect, and also you must know that the planned convention is contemptuous of the Supreme Court.
“The Andy Uba matter at the Supreme Court is a decided case and it is clear to everybody.
“Also, if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) goes ahead to endorse the exercise the body becomes culpable. The INEC is the sixth respondent in our appeal before the Supreme Court. So it would be an exercise in futility”.
Regan Ufomba, an APGA chieftain in Abia State, lamented that “it is sad that our dear party has continued to suffer setbacks to date.
“It is not a question of conducting convention when the same people that have always midwifed the trauma of the party are at the helm. The leadership problem is still lingering and until it is resolved the party cannot make any head way.”