Acting national publicity secretary of the All Progressive Grand Alliance,
Prince Nnanna Ukaegbu has described the sacked national chairman of the
party, Victor Ike Oye, as a man who was never identified with the party
before he was made national chairman by those he said did not mean well
for APGA.
Recall that an Enugu State High Court had last week sacked Ike Oye and
affirmed Martin Agbaso as the substantive national chairman of APGA.
Ukaegbu who stated this while addressing journalists in Owerri, challenged
Oye to produce any document which shows he was a member of APGA before
emerging the national chairman of the party. He added that under Oye’s
leadership, APGA lost focus and needs a breath of fresh air, and urged the
BOT chairman of the party, Governor Willie Obiano and other stakeholders
of the party to prevail on Oye to allow peace to reign.
He said, “Ike Oye was brought from nowhere to become the national chairman
of APGA. It is not as if he had toiled and worked for the party. I’m a
founding member of APGA, I worked closely with Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu, Chekwas Okorie and Victor Umeh, but never met or heard about Oye
in my life before he was propped up to become national chairman. It is
being reported that Oye was selected by a conclave of Catholic Bishops
from Anambra.
“I never gave attention to such reports until now when Oye’s associates
are saying that APGA is an Anambra affair. Those who never meant well for
the party brought Oye and imposed him on the party. The interest that
propped him up for the position equally needs to realize that the party
had rejected him.”
On the removal of Oye by APGA’s national working committee, Ukaegbu
described the process as in line with the party’s constitution, “The same
procedure that was adopted in removing the founding national chairman,
Chekwas Okorie, is still the same section that sacked Oye. NWC formed the
required quorum and he was legally removed by the party. Oye was indicted
by a disciplinary committee up to look into the charges against him. NEC
later adopted the report of the committee. Even Oye knows that he was
removed in line with APGA Constitution and has been sitting illegally.
“I want to use this opportunity to call on the former national chairman of
APGA, Ike Oye to quietly save the party from power wrangling and needless
litigation. Democracy is a game of number, majority of the members of APGA
have rejected him. It can’t be one man show. APGA just emerged from a
lengthy court battle that actually retarded the development of the party.
It is not in the best interest of the party to be engaged in another
battle, APGA may not survive it. I urge Ike Oye to retreat and be a
gentleman that democracy requires by quietly walking away.
“We need peace to place APGA to where it rightly belongs. Our father, the
spirit behind this party, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, wherever he is,
I’m sure he is in heaven, I doubt if he will be happy about what is
happening to APGA. History won’t be kind to anybody who is seen to be
retarding the progress of this party. It is game up for Ike Oye. I wish he
will appreciate the decision of the majority of the party.”
Ukaegbu lamented that Oye and his associates of running a campaign that
only Anambra people can become national chairman against the ‘Be your
Brother’s’ spirit behind the party and insisted that the leadership of
APGA should move away from Anambra and rotate among the states of the
South East zone to promote unity and growth of the party.
“APGA is touted as an Igbo party, which means that like Ohanaeze Ndigbo,
the leadership of the party ought to rotate. The leadership can’t be
concentrated in only one state and you still call it Igbo party. I have
been canvassing that the leadership of the party should move away from
Anambra to other states in Igbo land. Though, APGA is a national party but
it has its base in Igbo land from where it spread out to other parts of
Nigeria,” Ukaegbu concluded.