Crisis thickens in Enugu APC as chieftains lock horns with chairman over ministerial nominee

Following the war of words between members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, some chieftains of the party in Enugu West Senatorial Zone Sunday lashed out at the chairman of the party in the state, Dr. Ben Nwoye, saying he lacked the moral justification to query President Buhari’s renomination of Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, as his cabinet member.

Recall that Nwoye had during a press briefing, said the State Executive Committee of the party requested Buhari to withdraw the renomination of the former minister of foreign affairs.

They said they were ready to expose Nwoye, “if he continues with his unwarranted abuse of President Buhari or the person of Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, whom the group said performed creditably well as the nation’s foreign affairs minister in the last dispensation.”

The warning came after a meeting was held in Awgu, Awgu local government area of the state on Sunday.

In a five-point communiqué signed by the zonal chairman, Mr Tony Ibekwe, and the secretary, Hon Victor Nwankwo, made available to journalists, the group described Nwoye’s claim that Onyeama didn’t perform well “as baseless,” and asserted that “it is Mr Nwoye, who is unqualified to have occupied the position of chairman of APC in Enugu State.”

Other APC chieftains present at the meeting included, Comrade Adolphus Ude C, El-Aja, Lolo Queen Nwankwo, Madam Nze Madubuaku Nwakaego, among others.

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The communiqué read in part, “We the members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu West senatorial district hereby condemn thenunwarranted vituperations and attacks on President Buhari and our leader in the state, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs by Ben Nwoye and his co-conspirators and hereby caution them to desist from such slanderous attacks henceforth, for the interest of peace and unity of the party both at the national and state levels of the party.

“It beats our imagination to have learnt that Nwoye, who is facing corruption probe will turn around to castigate our most respectable President, Muhammadu Buhari and Mr Onyeama, who was a Director General, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and a renowned Diplomat of international repute who has contributed and still contributing his quota to nation building.

“Ben Nwoye has no moral justification to criticize the choice of President Buhari for re-nominating an incorruptible man like Geoffrey Onyeama by describing Mr President’s decision as a “colossal mistake” and inadvertently insulting Mr president’s sensibility.

“It is on record that Nwoye has cases pending at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and unresolved battle for the chairmanship position, between him and Deacon Okey Ogbodo, pending at the Court. He is also yet to clear the controversies concerning his membership of the bar.

“We hereby restate our unalloyed support to President Buhari as the leader of our great party at the national level and Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, as leader of Enugu State wing of APC, and call on Nwoye and his cohorts to accord him such respect or honourably quit their membership of the party in Enugu”

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