By Chizoba Ogbeche Abuja
Some aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu state have called on the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odegie-Oyegun, to intervene in the crisis rocking the party to avoid total collapse of APC in the state. Th e crisis rocking the Enugu state chapter of the party took another dimension with some party members demanding that the national leadership enforce the suspension of the ousted chairman of the party in the state, Dr. Ben Nwoye. Addressing journalists in Abuja, the aggrieved members led by Hon. Nnadozie Valentine, who was the gubernatorial candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN) in the 2011 general elections, maintained that Dr Nwoye was suspended on July 3, 2017, following all constitutional provisions of the party. He said: “We appeal to the national chairman and national leadership to intervene and save Enugu from eminent APC collapse. We also urge some of our members who are on purported suspension by Dr Nwoye to disregard the suspension. “He doesn’t have the right to suspend anybody outside constitution.
Other members who are not offi cers of the party cannot even be suspended by the state executive because you can only be suspended by your ward. “Suspending federal government functionaries who have contributed enormously to the growth of the party is totally laughable. We urged all of us to stay focused.” Continuing, he said: “Dr. Ben Nwoye happens to be a lawyer who knows the constitution channels available to him to appeal against his suspension if he feels the suspension was unlawful. “Instead of doing that he is just harassing people and intimidating loyal party members in Enugu and this same Nwoye refused to attend to a summon by committee set up by the national leadership of the party in Abuja and the offi ce of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to answer to questions about his running.”
On the issue of alleged embezzlement, he said: “As regard to embezzlement of party founds, antiparty activities and high handedness, Nwoye sets up a panel in Enugu to try the petitioners thereby assuming jurisdiction and becoming a judge in his own case and according to our constitution, there is no place where you petition against an offi cer you suspended. “Unfortunately, the state Commissioner of Police has been aiding the illegality by providing security for the suspended chairman who invaded the party secretariat on July 4, 2017, and had an illegal meeting and thereafter issued statement suspending some genuine members of the party.”
