‘Stomach infrastructure’ tearing Edo APC apart

The battle for who controls the Edo State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is getting fiercer, as the combatants are not backing down, especially as there are claims that their stipends are being cornered by some smart contemporaries, whom they have vowed to unseat.
This has created a crisis of confidence within the party. The infighting is principally between the state party chairman, Anselm Ojezua, and some members of the state executive committee led by the publicity secretary, Comrade Godwin Erhahon.
It was gathered that some members of the committee, led by Erhahon, were not happy over the non-payment of their stipends, despite the release of funds for the purpose, and had to petition Governor Adams Oshiomhole, who is statutorily the leader of the party in the state.
Controversial Confidence Vote
It was against the background of the bad blood generated by the disagreements over alleged non-payment of stipends that a recent vote of confidence passed on Ojezua by members of APC from his senatorial district, Edo Central, sparked deeper divisions in the party.
Read also: Battle for soul of Edo APC deepens
This Day reports that some members of the state executive committee, angered by what they termed a desperate move by the chairman to dodge his financial responsibility through a vote of confidence on him by his senatorial district, were said to have held a meeting where it was resolved that Ojezua must go. Obviously, they felt the best way to achieve the chairman’s removal was to expose irregularities, allegedly, committed by him.
On July 29, Erhahon, in a press statement, titled, “Vote of Confidence on Anselm Ojezua, Bad Omen for APC,” noted that the Edo State Working Committee of APC had condemned as a portent of bad things to come for the party the recent vote of confidence passed on Ojezua by his Edo Central senatorial district.
The state publicity secretary stated that the SWC had decided at a meeting in Benin City that the chairman should resign. He said there was no basis for commending Ojezua for any exemplary leadership when he lost his unit, ward, local government area and senatorial district at the last presidential and National Assembly elections.
Erhahon called on the Edo Central senatorial chairman of APC, Chief Henry Okoror, to tender an unreserved public apology to the party for hosting and presiding over the meeting where, in his words, “failure and betrayal were celebrated,” or face sanctions.
Betrayal
The statement also scolded the Edo Central senatorial chairman, Okoror, for organising the gathering where the confidence vote was passed on Ojezua and demanded an apology.
Erhahon stated that the “offensive” vote of confidence had vindicated those who had earlier accused the APC leadership in the senatorial district of selling out to their kinsmen, Chief Tony Anenih and Chief Tom Ikimi, during the last general elections.
The state publicity secretary said the only three seats the party lost to PDP during the state assembly election were in the same senatorial district where it earlier lost all the National Assembly seats to PDP. He wondered why the district had to embark on the self-praising jamboree as if failure was what they set out to achieve in the elections.
Erhahon, therefore, appealed to those who according to him worked hard to achieve the victory recorded in the South and North districts not to be discouraged by the attitude of the “traitors” in the Central district. He challenged Ojezua to defend the allegation that he sold out all APC polling agents’ identification tags for the presidential and National Assembly elections to his brethren in PDP, hence there was none for APC, a situation, Erhahon said worked against the party at the polling units in the Central district.
Erhahon further accused Ojezua of misleading the state executive committee to adopt Ikimi against Chief John Odigie-Oyegun before the APC national convention, only to rush to congratulate the latter at the venue of the convention when Ikimi lost out.
Response
But in his reaction, Ojezua dismissed the meeting of the SWC and described Erhahon as a “renowned rabble rouser”.
Ojezua said the party would respond to the allegations by Erhahon at an appropriate time and maintained that he was happy with his leadership style.
“It is a farce. No meeting was held. Erhahon is on his own. I hope he can substantiate his claims,” Ojezua said.

Read also: Reps crisis pitches Oyegun against Oshiomhole

But other members of the party’s SWC have also dissociated themselves from the reported July 29 meeting, where it was, allegedly, decided that the state party chairman should resign his position.
On August 3, a press release signed by the party’s state secretary, Chief Osaro Idah, distanced the SWC from the meeting Erhahon claimed they held.
In the release titled, “Disclaimer of Press Release of July 29, 2015,” Idah noted that there was no such meeting where the SWC told the chairman to resign, neither was there any gathering where the committee authorised the statement released by Erhahon.
Idah said the public should disregard the press statement by the publicity secretary and treat it as the personal opinion of the author for which he will take personal responsibility.
The secretary stated, “Our attention has been drawn to a press release dated 29th of July 2015 and signed by Comrade Godwin Erhahon, purportedly, making claim of the State Working Committee of APC, Edo State, concerning our state chairman, Anselm Ojezua.
“For the avoidance of doubt and the information of the general public, there was no meeting of the State Working Committee of our party on 29th of July, 2015 as reported in the release or at any other time where such issues contained therein were discussed.
“The said release did not, therefore, emanate from the state working committee nor was it authorised by it. We, therefore, urge all members of the public to disregard it in its entirety and treat it at best, as the personal opinion of the author for which he will take personal responsibility.”

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