A group of aggrieved All Progressive Congress (APC) stalwarts in Ebonyi state has over the weekend petitioned the National Caretaker Committee lead by the Yobe state governor, Mai Mala Buni of fanning illegality in the party activity in the state. The group kicked that the action of the Buni-led committee is tantamount to imposition and support of illegality contrary to the party’s constitution in the state leadership.
The petition dated 19th October 2020 accused the Eze Nwachukwu-led faction of the party in the state were operating illegally after being voided by the court in April 2019 following a suit filed against them by the Ben Nwaboshi faction.
The group noted that though the battle for superiority has been on in the state between the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, and the Senator now a member of the National Assembly Service Commission, Julius Ucha. Accordingly, the Eze Nwachukwu faction is having the support of the Minister, Onu, while the Nwaboshi faction is being backed by Senator Ucha.
The petitioners lament that after the court ruling, they expected the national body to broker peace within the party to shield it from manipulation from both within and outside forces, however, that was not obtainable instead the Buni-led kept quiet while the illegal faction which was voided by court still parades itself as legal.
However, the petitioner demands that the Buni-led faction as a matter of urgency set up a Caretaker Committee of the party in the state.
They also demanded that the upcoming party registration slated to come up shortly should be handled by the Caretaker Committee while a genuine peace meeting is convened to broker peace within both factions.
More so, they also prayed that persons who flaunted the order of President Buhari to withdraw all court cases should be sanctioned.
The petition partly reads; “We are stakeholders and elders of the party in Ebonyi state who do not belong to any of the two contending camps but interested in restoring peace, order, and sanity at the party.
“The state of the party in Ebonyi state which moved us, as loyal and conscientious party stakeholders and elders neutral in the aforementioned battle, to try to save the soul of the party and steer it to safety and stability. That is the standpoint on which we are sending you this letter.
“In a desperate bid to cover up the truth and hoodwink the party to believe that all is well with the party, Eze called a meeting of some members of the party where he read prepared speeches that were adopted by those present.
“It was not a peace meeting as people in the contending factions were neither present, represented nor had their grievances heard or addressed. However, the meeting on its own was illegal as Eze’s executive had been sacked by a court of competent jurisdiction.”
