An almost intractable crisis is unsettling the All Progressives Congress
\n(APC) in Enugu state. Some political watchers in the state had claimed that
\nthe crisis plaguing the Enugu chapter of the APC was largely rooted in the
\npresidential aspiration of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
\nSome members of the Party said the crisis began when pro-Atiku sympathizers
\nmade effort to \u201chijack\u201d the Buhari Support Group by changing it to
\nIntegrity Group but were resisted by the resilience of some staunch Buhari
\nmen.
\nHowever, others disagreed but blamed the rumble on alleged financial
\nmisappropriation by the Chairman of the state chapter of the Party, Ben
\nNwoye, and his cohorts.
\nAccording to reliable sources in the party, the crisis began immediately
\nafter President Muhammadu Buhari was declared the winner of the 2015
\nPresidential election and further escalated between June and July this
\nyear, when the party was embroiled in a mess of suspension and
\ncounter-suspension of some members of the State Working Committee (SWC) and
\nother members of the party.
\nIt was further learnt that the grouse of some caucus members of the APC
\nwith Nwoye also had to do with his domineering attitude and total control
\nof the party\u2019s machineries in Enugu which totally hamstrung the Party at
\nall level in the last general elections in 2015.
\nA caucus member, who spoke under anonymity, said the most surprising is the
\ndecision of the national leadership of the Party to play the ostrich
\ndespite the many petitions filed before it; calling for thorough
\ninvestigation into the finances of the Party under the leadership of Ben
\nNwoye.<\/p>\n
Just last week, the Forum of APC Women Leader, Enugu state chapter
\npetitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the
\nNational Chairman of the Party through their lawyer, Dom Ezeani, alleging
\nthat Ben Nwoye ignored the directive from the Party\u2019s national leadership
\nto buy Sienna buses with N20.4m given to Enugu chapter of the Party.
\nThe Sienna buses were to be for the women wing, youth wing, State secretary
\nand Chairman of the Party for easy grassroots mobilization ahead of the
\nlast general elections.
\nThe Forum confirmed that the money was fully paid to the state chapter but
\nNwoye only bought Sienna bus for himself, documenting the car in his
\ncompany\u2019s name. The registration number of the said car is \u201cLAGOS AKD
\n347DR\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sequel to that, Nwoye could not account for the balance of the money.
\nAccording to our source, Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita
\nOkechukwu, had also written a petition against Nwoye alleging lack of
\ntransparency and working at cross purposes with other members of SWC.
\nThe source said Nwoye, in his reaction, allegedly blackmailed Okechukwu
\nwith a threat to expose how he diverted the sum of N100, 000 given to him
\nfor each of the 113 delegates of the state to the 2014 APC Presidential
\nPrimaries by the Buhari\u2019s Campaign Committee.
\nMultiple sources say that out of N150, 000 set aside for each delegate,
\nOkechukwu paid N50, 000 but promised to balance up in time. However, he has
\nfailed to do so three years on.
\n\u201cOsita Okechukwu collected N150, 000 each from Buhari Campaign Organisation
\nduring the last Presidential primary for all the 113 delegates and shared
\nonly N50,000 each. Please, do the math and find out how much he pocketed.
\nLittle wonder, he started supporting Ben Nwoye after petitioning him for
\nfinancial misappropriation because Nwoye blackmailed him with these facts,\u201d
\na source said.
\nHowever, when the DG-VON was contacted for his reaction and to clear his
\nname, he said: \u201cKindly, contact Col. Hammed Ali (rtd), current CG of
\nCustoms. He was the then Chief of Staff to Mr. President. Comrade Adolphus
\nUde collected Enugu Delegates\u2019 money from him in my presence. Ali disbursed
\nthe money himself. If you speak with him, his position will clear the
\nmalicious allegations from some renegades. Methinks, he has no need to tell
\nlies.\u201d
\nContacted, Adolphus Ude denied having anything to do with Col. Hammed Ali
\n(rtd) with regards to the Enugu delegates\u2019 money from Buhari.
\nWhen we sought for substance behind the report in a national newspaper
\nwhich claims that the battle for the structure and soul of the APC in Enugu
\nby some person close to ex-VP Atiku Abubakar (ahead of the 2019 elections)
\nwas the real reason unsettling the Party in Enugu, nothing was discovered.
\nThe state spokesperson for the Party, Madam Kate Offor, dismissed the
\nreport.
\nShe said that \u201c2019 cannot be the issue the origin of the rumble in Enugu
\nChapter of the Party. I can authoritatively tell you that it is the
\ninordinate ambition of a few to wrestle power from the state Chairman, Ben
\nNwoye that originated the crisis.
\n\u201cNwoye was duly elected and his chairmanship was endorsed severally by the
\nNational leadership of our Party. So, those accusing him of financial
\nimpropriety are doing so for reasons best known to them and that is tearing
\nour Party apart. If monies were truly embezzled, common sense should tell
\nanyone interested in the finances of the party in the state that one man
\ncannot siphon election funds.
\n“So, why must it be only Nwoye that is mentioned everywhere? Please, Nwoye
\nshould be left alone to continue his work of building the Party into a
\ncohesive force ahead of 2019 by his attracting of high profile politicians
\nin the state to the Party
\n\u201cBut I must say that emphatically that 2019 is not the issue unsettling APC
\nin Enugu after all we had Kwankwaso structures, Atiku structures, and
\nBuhari structures at all levels of the Party before 2015 yet we worked as
\none and emerged victorious at the end of the day,\u201d Offor said.
\nWhen Ben Nwoye was reached on telephone for comments, he accused our
\nreporter of being an impostor who wanted to mine sensitive information from
\nhim for ignoble purposes. \u201cI will not speak to you, if not face-to-face.
\nAnybody can call me on phone; claiming to be a journalist. If you want to
\nhear from me, come and see me face-to-face.\u201d
\nOn his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, who is also
\nthe leader of the Party in Enugu, pleaded for peace and also called for
\ndialogue among key stakeholders.
\nHe said due process, transparency, accountability and fair-hearing as
\nenunciated by the constitution of the APC should be adhered to in handling
\nParty affairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An almost intractable crisis is unsettling the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu state. Some political watchers in the state had claimed that the crisis plaguing the Enugu chapter of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n