APC expels former speaker, ex-MILAD, 39 others in Enugu

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State has expelled a former speaker of the state House of Assembly, Eugene Odo; and 40 others for alleged violation of the party’s constitution.

Other expelled party members were the ex-military governor of Gombe State, Group Capt. Joe Orji (retd); a former deputy governorship candidate in the state, Prince Chikwado Chukwunta; a former member of the House of Representatives, Chukwuemeka Ujam; and Gen. J.O.J Okoloagu, among others.

The Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee in the state, Dr. Ben Nwoye, disclosed this at a media briefing on Sunday in Enugu.

Nwoye said the members expelled themselves from APC after they filed a suit without first exhausting the internal mechanisms as provided in the party’s constitution.

Some members of APC had in a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, demanded the removal of Nwoye as the party’s chairman in the state.

The chairman said: “I arrived at my home and I found a copy of a lawsuit pasted on my door. In the lawsuit is an order sought by the applicants but was denied by the court.

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“One Prince Gilbert Chikwado Chukwunta and 40 others filed a claim against me; they sought an ex parte order before an FCT High Court, seeking to remove me as the chairman of the party in Enugu State.

“They sued me and alleged among other things that I was suspended by certain persons, who they attached their signatures, but the learned jurist denied giving the order. He directed them to serve me, but instead of serving me as ordered by the court, they pasted it on my door.

“But what is important is that for those who said that Ben Nwoye has been removed, the removal of Ben Nwoye is now a subject of court, and the court has refused to remove me. I wasn’t there but the learned judge refused to remove me.

“The other point is that the petition which they signed, they forged numerous people’s signatures; one of the people they forged their signature is Mrs. Kate Offor, she never signed a petition seeking to remove me.

“We also had many other people claiming to be members of the state executive committee and one of such persons is Eugene Odo. Enugu State APC is no longer running on SEC; it is a caretaker committee, so being a former speaker does not make Eugene Odo a member of the APC caretaker committee. Gen. J.O.J. Okoloagu is also not a member of the caretaker committee, so also the former member of the House, Hon. Chukwuemeka Ujam, who they alleged signed the paper. He has never been and is not a member of the state executive committee.”

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