Sidebar

Exclusive Reports

28
Thu, Mar

2019: Foreign Affairs Minister Working For Atiku – Enugu APC

Top News
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

The last is yet to be heard in the deepening intra-party crisis which has engulfed the Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), with the State Chairman, Dr. Ben Nwoye, accusing Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyema, of working for former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar’s 2019 interest.

The party chairman made the allegations on Tuesday while briefing the press on latest developments in the party.

Nwoye had been enmeshed in supremacy tussle with his deputy, Mr. Adolphus Udeh which saw the suspension of the latter in July after he was accused of invading the party secretariat and attempting to forcefully take over control of the party.

According to Nwoye, the Foreign Affairs Minister has for reasons best known to him, decided to work with the self-acclaimed “Integrity Group” of Udeh faction in order to spite the leadership of the party.

The party chairman claimed Onyema had held several meetings with the dissident group both in Abuja and Enugu, including one held to further the 2019 interest of Atiku, while President Muhammadu Buhari was away on medical leave.

“While Buhari was in London, the minister was here holding a meeting with the so-called ‘Integrity group’, which is said to be working for Atiku 2019.

“Though to their shame, Atiku later disowned them. But he is clearly working for Atiku’s 2019 interest, because it was his PA that called for that meeting on behalf of the minister, and the minister presided over it,” Nwoye alleged.

Meanwhile, the party in Enugu has also advanced plan to expel the Minister and possibly prosecute him for allegedly doctoring the state chapter’s delegates’ list for the party’s national convention.

Mr. Onyema has since denied culpability in the alleged delegates lust manipulation and was reported by the New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to have only sought for a harmonised list of stakeholder's raised issues with the initial list compiled by the state chairman.

Reacting to the NAN report, Nwoye said the minister’s action was enough ground for expulsion.

“Now that the minister has admitted that he indeed doctored the party’s delegates’ list, we shall look at it. The punishment for such offence is expulsion from the party.

”If he is indeed the one that said that, he is liable for expulsion and possible prosecution,” the party chairman said.

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS