APC and Imo Polity: Clarifications on some Issues
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State notes with regret the unrelenting attempts by renegades, moles and usurpers to continue to promote animosity in our Party, especially, among critical stakeholders in the
Party, by authoring, as well as sponsoring spurious publications aimed at promoting rancour, suspicion a disharmony within the Party, thereby, sabotaging the mandate given to the National Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of our Party, to pursue full reconciliation among all Party members.
As a responsible political organization, the All Progressives Congress in Imo State will not lend itself to lies and willful misinterpretation of unambiguous judicial pronouncements, hence, we would once more reiterate that;
1. No Court in Nigeria has dissolved the Daniel Nwafor led State Working Committee of APC in Imo State, neither is there any order restraining the State Chairman of the Party or any member of the executive elected in July 2018 from continuing to function in their official capacities as elected officials of the Party.
2. Barrister Marcelinus Nlemigbo and his team are impostors, whose acclaimed position remains unknown to the Party and it’s Constitution. Their purported
3. The purported dissolution and inauguration of a Caretaker Committee by the erstwhile Chairman of our Party, was in contempt of subsisting court judgement and in contravention of provisions of our Constitution, hence, remains an illegality.
Also, the Party wishes to refute some false news that have been making the rounds in the past few days and also set the records straight, as they concern our Party, actions of the governor, whose election was sponsored by our Party and his relationship with leaders of the Party in the State;
1. ON PHILIP UMEADI, SAN, APPLICATION TO THE SUPREME COURT AND RAP’S CASE AT THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT:
We have analyzed the processes served on our Party as it affects Philip Umeadi’s suit asking the Supreme Court to enforce its judgement on Uche Nwosu versus Action People’s Party, and we have found that neither Uche Nwosu nor anyone close to him is involved in the recent challenge against our Party’s victory at the Supreme Court.
We remain unshaken in our resolve to protect our Party’s interests, legitimately. Ugwumba Uche Nwosu remains one of the most valuable and committed leaders of our Party in the State and we have his assurances that he will not lend himself to anything that would hurt the interest of the Party and his repudiation of any court action against our Party is well-documented and properly noted.
2. DANIEL NWAFOR WAS COMMITTED TO THE RESTORATION OF OUR PARTY’S MANDATE AT THE ELECTION TRIBUNAL UP TO THE SUPREME COURT:
A fake news making the rounds with the caption; “WHY WE CAN’T CHALLENGE IHEDIOHA’S DECLARATION, SAYS IMO APC CHAIRMAN” is fake. Daniel Nwafor effectively mobilized the APC in Imo State towards reversing the wrongful declaration of PDP’s Ihedioha as governor of Imo State throughout the Court proceedings that followed the 2019 governorship election in the State.
3. OKIGWE SENATORIAL BYE-ELECTION AND SOLIDARITY VISITS BY SOME ‘ASPIRANTS’ TO NLEMIGBO:
We note that some aspirants may have been deceived into believing that the APC ticket will be given out to either the highest bidder or the person who most receives the anointing of some high placed, but notorious fraudtocrats, whose membership of the Party remains validly debatable.
The true position of things is that the Party has advised those interested in vying for the vacant Imo North Senate seat to work hard towards gaining the confidence of Party members in Imo North Senatorial District. The Party shall not sell its ticket to moneybags, but to the most popular and most acceptable of all the real aspirants, as the Party shall conduct a transparent and people-driven nomination process.
We also wish to further warn these aspirants that Chief Marcellinus Nlemigbo is not an official of the Party at any level and anyone dealing with him, does so at his or her own risk.
4. ON PAYMENT OF SALARIES AND PENSIONS:
We note with disappointment complaints from across civil servants and pensioners in the State; while many complain of being owed several months in arrears, there are also complaints of selective payment to mostly junior workers, as well as an unexplained reduction in the salaries and pensions due to some categories of workers and pensioners.
The Party appeals to civil servants and pensioners in the State for more understanding and patience as we continue to prevail on government to fast-track the processes for the equitable, transparent and non-controversial payment of salary arrears and pensions. It is not in the character of our Party to owe civil servants and pensioners and we are hopeful that in no distant time, our hardworking civil servants and patriotic senior citizens shall smile again.
The Party also uses this opportunity to further plead with the governor, His Excellency Senator Hope Uzodimma, to pay these civil servants and pensioners, as the continued delay in the payment of salaries and pensions is harmful to the image and acceptability of our Party in the State.
5. ON ATTEMPTS BY SOME RENEGADES AND IMPOSTORS TO ABASE OUR PARTY BY UNDERMINING OUR LEADERS:
Chief Marcellinus Nlemigbo and his group do not speak for our Party and their recent falsehoods and divisive speeches against some of our leaders should be understood as being part of their assignments to destroy the Party. We restate that every member of the Party is very valuable to us and deserve all the respect we can accord them.
His Excellency Owelle Rochas Okorocha remains the number one vision bearer of our Party in the State, and no responsible Party member would lend himself to any utterance or action that may aim at deriding him.
6. ON ONGOING PROBE OF OKOROCHA’S ADMINISTRATION BY GOVERNOR HOPE UZODIMMA:
The Party registers its disapproval of the ongoing probe of His Excellency Owelle Rochas Okorocha by the Hope Uzodimma administration. The probe is a witch-hunt instituted by the short-lived PDP administration and it is curious that Senator Hope Uzodimma would inherit these panels, whose membership is 97% made up of PDP chieftains.
We call for the outright disbandment of these vendetta pursuing panels and should the governor wish to probe the activities of his predecessors, he must own up this responsibility by empaneling committees to transparently and fairly investigate previous administrations, at least from 1999.
7. ON OKOROCHA’S LEGACIES IN IMO AND THE CONSISTENT ATTEMPTS BY THE UZODIMMA ADMINISTRATION TO DISCREDIT THEM:
We have noted with disappointment, well-rehearsed attempts by the Senator Hope Uzodimma administration to discredit the APC in the State, through sponsored falsehoods and denial of Okorocha’s massive infrastructural revolution and unprecedented human capital development, and we wish to put it on record that as a political Party, we are very proud of the achievements of the APC administration of Owelle Rochas Okorocha.
We advise the Uzodimma administration to continue with the great progressive visions set in place by our Party through the courageous and prudent deployment of resources towards bettering the lots of the common man, which was the landmark of the Okorocha administration in eight years.
Okorocha’s achievements are good reference points for responsible and people-oriented governance, and it is our wish that Governor Hope Uzodimma will not lower the standards set by our Party in the State by importing anti-people and questionable governance strategies into our body polity.
Finally, we thank Imolites for their unwavering support to our Party even in the face of many uncertainties and we urge them to keep the faith, as our Party will strive not to let them down.
Being a press statement signed Onwuasoanya Jones, Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress, Imo State Chapter on Tuesday, 28th July, 2020.
