By Amaechi Okwara
Asaba
Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was yesterday suspended by the chairmen and secretaries of the nine local government of the district over alleged misappropriation of Christmas rice and anti-party activities.
The letter dated February 6, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Asaba, the Delta state capital, was jointly signed by eight out of the nine chairmen and six out of the nine secretaries of the local government executives.
In a suspension letter addressed to the state chairman of the party, the APC local government chairmen and secretaries did not only accused Okafor of grossly misappropriating the 2016 Christmas rice package, they also accused him of collecting the sum of N10,000 each from the LGAs as transportation cost for the rice.
The local government chairmen and secretary alleged that the senatorial chairman short-changed the various local government area executives by holding on to four bags of rice each, while also allegedly collecting N10,000 each from the LGAs for the purpose of transporting the bags of rice.
But in a swift reaction, Okafor dismissed his purported suspension, saying that those who were suspending him were already serving their indefinite suspension from party members in their various local government areas for misappropriating the 20 bags of rice each that were given them for onward distribution during the Christmas celebration.
Okafor, however, said he endorsed the suspension order slammed on the embattled chairmen and secretaries by members of the party at the local government level.
Chairman of the party in Oshimili South local government area, Ogbueshi Ben Onwuka, who read the suspension letter at the end of a stakeholders’ meeting in Asaba, said Okafor was not fit to continue to pilot the affairs of the party in Delta-north.
He said: “Chief George Okafor in his usual game of short changing, only gave out 20 bags of rice to the Delta north LGAs and concealing four bags from each LGA to himself, amounting to 36 bags of rice and equally collected the sum of N10, 000 from each LGA for rice transportation refund and alternatively seized a bag of rice from any LGA who could not afford the money.”
