The head of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Barr Ugochukwu Agballah, announced on Saturday that 20 party members had been suspended.
This happened just days after another group within the party said they had suspended Agballah along with other officials.
But during a meeting at the party’s office, Agballah’s group decided to suspend everyone involved in the previous suspension announcement.
People who attended the meeting included the Deputy National Chairman of the Party for the South, Chief Emma Eneukwu; the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji; former Senator Chukwuka Utazi, and Agballah himself, among others.
Chief Emma Eneukwu, representing the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, stated that Agballah is still the chairman of the party in Enugu State.
He said the national APC office did not know about Agballah’s removal, claiming that the action was not done according to the rules.
In a document read by Senator Utazi, the party listed the names of the suspended members: Uche Egbonwonu, Chibuike Onoduagu, Ubah Onah, Clifford Ezema, Ages Agu, Paul Olinya, Innocent Uroko, Obetta Ifeoma, Harrison Obochi (Zonal Youth Leader), and Michael Ezeanyanwu (Publicity Secretary).
Others include Alphonsus Nwafor (Zonal Chairman, West), David Nwobodo (State Asst. Organizing Secretary), Sunday Onah (State Asst. Auditor), Peter Chime (State Youth Leader), Ndubuisi Agbo (Enugu South LGA Chairman), Onyeka Ezegbunam (Enugu West Zonal Youth Leader), Samuel Okonkwo (Awgu LGA Secretary), Innocent Ogbodo, Nnamani Denis Sunday, and Eze Ugwu Christian.
The document said the meeting was unhappy about the “bad behavior and ignoring of the APC Constitution by some party members who met in a hotel and wrongly announced the suspension of Enugu state Chairman Ugochukwu H. Agballah, State Deputy Chairman Chief Augustine Alumonah, State Treasurer Hon. Jude Aniogbo, and State Organizing Secretary Hon. Emeka Eze.”
The stakeholders said only 14 people made the first suspension announcement. They claimed signatures were faked, and names were added without people’s permission.
“More than 35 people whose signatures were faked and names added in the false suspension document have denied being part of it,” the document stated.
“The stakeholders also noticed that the supposed suspension did not follow the proper process. There was no meeting, no petition, and no talk about it at the SEC or national levels. No investigation was done according to the party’s Constitution before the false suspension announcement.”
“The stakeholders accept the Disciplinary Committee’s recommendations for suspending those involved.”
“They were invited by the Disciplinary Committee to explain themselves but refused to come, so they had a fair chance to be heard.”
The party said it formed an eight-member Committee to review the cases of those suspended earlier but now want to rejoin the party.
The Enugu APC stakeholders thanked the indigenous people (Ndigbo) for not joining the recent protest against President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s government.
“We fully support the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President.”
“The APC in Enugu State is ready and will join in the upcoming Enugu State Local Government Council Elections,” the document added.
It’s worth mentioning that a High Court in Enugu had also barred Agballah and some others from acting as party officials.