26012020 - How bad an example was set in Zamfara

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JANUARY 26, 2020, PAGE 19
BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF APGA:
A:
I am the legitimate
National Chairman
—Njoku
Chief Edozie Njoku was elected as the
National Chairman of All Progressives
Grand Alliance, APGA, in Owerri, last
year, but was stopped from assuming
leadership by court injunctions. In this
interview, he speaks on the decision of
the person, who instituted the suit
leading to the injunction, Victor Oye, to
discontinue his case. Njoku also speaks
on his plans to rebuild the party.
By Levinus Nwabughiogu
ast week, it was reported that you have
Lreturned as the National Chairman of
APGA. Can you tell us what transpired?
APGA conducted two parallel conventions.
One was done in Owerri and another one held
in Awka. APGA agreed to hold the convention
in Owerri on May 31, 2019. This decision was
made in 2018. Congresses took place in May.
The results of the congresses nationwide were
completely against Oye. He decided to
schedule an emergency National Executive
Committee, NEC, meeting. They excluded
many BoT members like Bianca Ojukwu and
Chief Victor Umeh. After the convention in
Owerri, Oye’s tenure should have ended on
June 6, but on June 5, he filed a case in Abuja
to restrain me from carrying out my functions
as national chairman.
Did you win at the convention?
I won and emerged as the national
chairman. At the convention, we had
legitimate delegates. Why did he obtain an
injunction that I should not be recognised?
He withdrew the case when he saw he could
not substantiate his claim. Didn’t he know I
am now the legitimate national chairman of
APGA when he withdrew the
case?
Have you met with
Independent National
Electoral Commission,
INEC, and what are they
saying?
This thing just happened last
Thursday. We would write to
them.
What about some other
stakeholders of the party? Are
they aware?
All the stakeholders of the
party believed that justice
would prevail and we are glad
the controversy is over now.
APGA is controlling only
one state, Anambra. Has the
governor also been put on
notice?
The governor is the leader of
the party. He is our BoT
Chairman. A lot of discussions
are ongoing. I wouldn’t like to speak about
them.
You were quoted to have said that you
would bring back all who left the party. How
do you intend to achieve that?
I said I would ensure those who left return to
the party.
I mentioned the name of Ugo Agbala as an
example. He is from Enugu State. Someone
asked if I would work to bring back Chekwas
Okorie and I said yes. I don’t think the party
treated him fairly. I haven’t had any discussion
with Peter Obi. He is an old member of APGA.
It would be very nice if he returns to the party
as an old member. Let us conclude the work
we started in APGA, but I think Peter Obi is
quite comfortable in PDP.
Have you had a one-on-one with people
like Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu?
Yes, we have had many discussions but she is
not happy with so many things that happened.
I don’t think she has any problem with the
party. Her real grouse is about the person who
paraded himself as the party chairman, who
she considered incapable.
Do you think the judgement of the court or
the lifting of those injunctions has actually
gone down well with the other faction?
I think that because of the way Oye joined
the party, he feels being the national chairman
is a right. It is a privilege that should be given
by members. If members of the party decide
that they don’t want you or decide that they
don’t want me to be their national chairman
one of us should be honourable enough to
give up that position. Whether he is happy or
not, he should look at the way things are. You
can’t force yourself on people.
Have you met with the members of your
faction after the last court ruling?
Yes, we have been having meetings. We are
actually touring all the zones starting from
next week. In all the six geopolitical zones,
national officers are going around to know
what really is on the ground because we cannot
really take anything for granted.
All the
stakeholders of
the party
believed that
justice would
prevail and we
are glad the
controversy is
over now
•Njoku
Talking about structures on the ground,
most people feel APGA is
as good as dead. They seem
not to be happy with the
relationship with the ruling
All Progressives Congress,
APC…
APGA is more or less a
sleeping giant and it is
unfortunate that we didn’t
have the right leadership
when people wanted to
rebuild APGA. The party was
not really formed just for the
Igbo cause. It was formed for
the marginalized. Wherever
you find that you needed a
platform to express yourself,
APGA is the answer.
Isn’t the party subsumed
in APC now?
No, it is not subsumed in
APC. I don’t have any
problem with parties
merging or having an
understanding, but it should
be done with the blessing of
the party faithful. A few people at the top just
decided that they were going to support the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, during the
administration of Goodluck Jonathan. That
was how APGA started supporting the PDP. It
was also done in the Buhari era. Similarly, in
this era, a few people just got up and decided
to support the APC.
Does APGA stand a chance in future
elections?
Every party stands a chance if the right thing
is done. When you have no plan nothing will
happen. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. We
do not plan in APGA. We have to rebuild the
party without sentiments. We should look for
the best without sentiments and we will have a
party that does primaries. If we succeed in
doing that, many people who may want to
join the PDP or APC will come to APGA.
Do you also subscribe to the idea that all
election matters should be concluded before
swearing-in?
I think it is a very good idea. For example,
what happened in Imo State is going to affect
the state because a lot of projects were actually
awarded by former Governor Emeka
Ihedioha. Now, what would happen to the
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Ojukwu gave me staff of
office in Chekwas Okorie’s
presence —Ukaegbu
All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA,
chieftain, Prince Nnanna Ukaegbu,
speaks on the crisis rocking the party
and the call for election in Abia North
among other issues. Excerpts:
BY UGOCHUKWU ALARIBE
•Ukaegbu
our party, APGA, has been torn apart by
Ycrisis. What is the way forward?
APGA has no elected official across the
federation. There was an attempt albeit
illegally to organize congresses to elect
national, state, local government and ward
officers of the party which was apposite to the
APGA Constitution. The tenure of the last
executive expired on the 15th of May 2019. A
High Court in Ibadan, Oyo State ordered thennational
executive of the party to hold a
national convention and other congresses on
or before 15th of May, 2019 which was their
last day in office. Under the APGA
Constitution, only the sitting executive
committee can conduct elective congresses.
The APGA Constitution also envisages a
situation whereby the executive
may not be able to conduct
elective congresses within its
tenure. In such instance, the
Constitution provides for
convocation of a national
convention solely for the
purpose of extending the tenure
of the executive committee by
not more than 90 days. In this
instance, this was not done, the
party waited for the expiration
of their tenure. But rather than
seek for extension after their
tenure, they proceeded to
organize congresses after a
court had found that their tenure
had expired. Another court in
Kwale , Delta State, struck out
the congresses they held. And as
of today, APGA has no valid
ward, local government, state,
zonal and national officers.
Anybody parading himself as
such is fake and deceiving the
public. Conversely, owing to the
order of court in Abia State, I
remain in office pending the determination
of the substantive suit we filed. The order of
the court pronouncing me Chairman is now
subject to a suit at the Court of Appeal. Until
this order is set aside, I remain in office.
Therefore, I’m the only remaining officer of
APGA across the federation. Other offices have
expired by effluxion of time. I am technically
the Acting National Chairman of APGA and I
have written to INEC informing them about
the state of affairs in the party as well as my
desire to proceed to convene the relevant
congresses and convention to elect new officers
of the party.
Way forward for APGA
The way forward is to return to the APGA
Constitution and the visions of the founding
fathers of the party. I’m in touch with most of
the founding fathers of APGA, they are not
happy with the sordid state of affairs in the
party. Some of them have left, but I have a
special covenant with APGA, and without risk
I hold the sacred
‘ofo’ of the party
given to me on the
17th of January,
2004 by Dim
Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu-
Ojukwu at Ikot
Ekpene
of contradiction, I hold the sacred ‘ofo’ of the
party given to me on the 17th of January, 2004
by Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu
at Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State and
witnessed by the founding chairman of APGA,
Chief Chekwas Okorie and Chief Onwuka
Ukwa. That ‘ofo’ resides with me till date. I
can’t abandon it for anything; this is why I
remain in APGA. And this is why I am
committed to putting the party back on track
on the vision of its founding fathers.
On Board of Trustees’ Chairman, Gov. Willie
Obiano
I leave him to be judged by history. If he is
doing well, it is up to him. If he is paying
Ojukwu in good coin, it is also up to him.
Why has APGA not won any state beside
Anambra?
This is not true. APGA won Imo State in
2011. In 2015, we were on the verge of winning
Abia before the forces of darkness truncated
that victory. It is still the same forces of
darkness that had kept the party in limbo. The
struggle for the soul of APGA and to reposition
the party started after the 2019 elections .I
know before the 2021 polls in Anambra, we
will get our acts together. APGA will show why
it is a mass oriented party. We are sure of not
only retaining Anambra, but also overriding
the South-East.
Abia North no longer has representation
in the Senate following the imprisonment of
Chief Orji Uzor Kalu. What is your take on
the matter?
There is nothing strange in Abia North not
having a representative at the Senate. I rely
on the pronouncement of the Federal High
Court, Lagos Division while ruling on Kalu’s
application for bail. One of the grounds Kalu
relied for bail was that he ought to be allowed
to go and represent his senatorial district who
voted for him. And the judge reminded him
that his senatorial district knew he was under
trial and they also knew the likelihood of his
conviction and voted him. So, the senatorial
district knew the risk they were taking by voting
and this can no longer be used as an excuse
for bail. The senatorial zone took the risk and
now they are suffering it. The only unique thing
in the case of Kalu and Abia North is the
reluctance of the Senate to apply the basic
laws under Sections 66 and 68 of the
Constitution which talk about the issue of
eligibility for membership of legislative
houses in Nigeria. From December 5th when
he was convicted, Kalu ceased to be a member
of the Senate. This is the law of
the land. Under which law are
people saying he should be
allowed to exhaust his right to
appeal? Those canvassing such
views are relying on the
provisions of the Electoral Act,
but they forgot that the
Constitution supersedes the
Act. The provision of the law
that an elected member will
remain in office until he
exhausts his right of appeal
only relate sto the challenge to
the seat which he occupies, not
when it rests on his
qualification to assume office.
The Nigerian Constitution
provides qualification for a
person to be a member of the
Senate or the House of
Representatives. One of the
qualifications is that you must
not be under a sentence from
any court in Nigeria
bordering on fraud or
financial misappropriation. Therefore, with
his imprisonment by the court, Kalu has lost
the qualification to continue to sit in the
Senate or receive allowances. This is the
position of the law. It was not made to
victimize Kalu, it was stated clearly in our
law books.
Are you not worried that the matter took
more than eight years before conclusion?
I am not worried; the issue is that in Nigeria
we are yet to determine if we really want to
fight corruption or condone it. And the APC
led Federal Government is guilty of double
standard in the anti graft war. If government
is really committed to fight corruption, the
Senate won’t have said they will continue to
pay Kalu’s salaries and allowances until he
exhausts his right of appeal. In America, would
a convicted senator remain in his position
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