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Raymond Ozoji, Awka
The Anambra state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is currently facing a herculean task of determining who the state chairman of the party really is in as Mr. Basil Ejidike and Barr. Emeka Dennison Ibeh lay claims to be authentic chairmen of the party. While Barr. Emeka Dennison Ibeh described Basil Ejidike as an impostor, Ejidike says he would not bandy words with Ibeh because he believes Ibeh’s tenure has long expired giving birth to a caretaker committee headed by him and would elapse after new state executives emerge from the party’s statewide congresses scheduled for January, 2022.
To this end, a principal officer of the party in the state who didn’t want his name in print told our correspondent that Mr. Basil Ejidike is the authentic chairman of the party and Sen. Andy Uba is the leader of the party in Anambra state; that any other thing is a nullity. The source also said that it is an APC constitutional provision that the gubernatorial candidate of the party automatically becomes the leader until the next election irrespective of whether he won or not. He added that the adoption of Sen. Andy Uba as leader was a general consensus. He said it was not in dispute that Mr. Basil Ejidike is the only state chairman of the APC in Anambra and that Barr. Emeka Dennison Ibeh contested the chairmanship election but ran foul of the law as it was revealed that there was no concrete evidence that he got the chairmanship form. He was eventually asked to step aside and also hand over to his deputy Mr. Basil Ejidike.
According to the source, all elected officers of the party were dissolved few months ago and a caretaker committee constituted in its stead. Although the source was cognisant of the fact that Barr. Ibeh pursued his case up to the Appeal Court and won, he maintained that events had overtaken that as his mandate no longer existed following the dissolution of all elected officers of the party. The source reiterated the fact that there were no factions in Anambra APC especially as the State Working Committee was not divided. He said APC Anambra state comprises 17-member state working committee and that two of the members had been allegedly suspended. The source said the state publicity secretary and the state secretary of the party had been suspended forthwith and their suspension followed due process.
Also, Barr. Chukwunonso Chinwuba who identified himself as the new state secretary of the APC in Anambra state corroborated the assertion that there were no factions in Anambra APC and that Sen. Andy Uba is currently the leader of the party in the state. He said Andy Uba’s emergence as the party leader was a product of a cacaus meeting where he was given a unanimous endorsement. Chinwuba stated that Dr. Chris Ngige was not doing anything any longer as the leader of the party in Anambra state; that Ngige does not care about Anambra APC but only cares for himself alone. He said Ngige became leader because he contested election in 2013 and lost. That since 2013 till now Ngige has not delivered a councillor and has also continued to work against the party in Anambra state. Chinwuba said worst still is that even as a senator and a minister, he could not deliver his house of assembly constituency.
But on the contrary, Chukwuma Agufugo who told our correspondent that he remains the state secretary of the APC in Anambra state, said all the documents he signed prior to assumption of office still had his name as the state secretary of APC in Anambra state and there was nothing like suspension whatsoever. Agufugo also disclosed that Barr. Ibeh obtained a favourable judgement from the Court of Appeal which returned him as the state chairman of APC in the state. According to him, a petition was written against Mr. Basil Ejidike and a vote of no confidence was passed on him and suspension order placed on him. He said Dr. Chris Ngige was generally accepted and adopted as leader of the party and it is not in dispute. That Sen. Andy Uba was the gubernatorial candidate of APC in the 2021 governorship election held in Anambra state does not automatically confer leadership of the party on him.
Moreso, Mr. Okelo Madukaife, the alleged suspended state publicity secretary of the APC in Anambra, said the suspension order did not exist as he remained the authentic spokesman of the APC in the state. He said Barr. Chukwunonso Chinwuba was not the state publicity secretary as he would hand over to a new person elected in congress, adding that he would not dwell on the rantings of some disgruntled persons within the party. He said Mr. Basil Ejidike has been suspended as chairman while the state secretary is currently running the party.
Meanwhile, Mr. Basil Ejidike on his part, said APC was an organised platform and that currently caretaker committees appointed by the National Office of the party piloted the affairs of the party. Ejidike said APC Anambra state has no two chairmen except only one structure headed by the current caretaker committee chairman which is himself. Although he said there might be congresses in January 2022 to elect new officers, whoever emerges will take over from him. According to him, APC is not a personal company of anyone and as it stands, Sen. Andy Uba remains leader of the party in Anambra state.
Barr. Emeka Dennison Ibeh on the other hand, recalled that the Court of Appeal judgement delivered 30th November, 2021 pronounced him the authentic chairman of APC in Anambra state. Ibeh argued that anything to the contrary would amount to contempt of court and any other person posing as APC chairman in Anambra is an impostor. He also pointed out that the question of who becomes leader of the party in Anambra state is an internal party affair and would be resolved amicably without rancour and acrimony.
