BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
SOME members of the All Progressives Congress in Ebonyi State have petitioned the National Caretaker/Convention Committee of the party, led by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, alleging the imposition of the newly constituted Stanley Okoro-led Caretaker Committee on members of the party in the state.
The members, who said the appointment of the Okoro-led Committee did not respect a previous resolution of APC leaders, vowed to recognise Eze Nwachukwu as the authentic leader of the party in the state
The petitioners under the groups – Concerned Ebonyi State APC Stakeholders and Concerned Foundation Members of APC in Ebonyi State – in a three-page petition signed by Ndah Kato & Co Chambers, Adonkolo, Lokoja, Kogi State; and dated 25th January, 2021, noted that the appointment of Stanley Okoro, a serving Commissioner in Ebonyi State Government, as the Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee, was a breach of the resolutions of the National Executive Committee meeting, held on December 8, 2020.
They said, during the NEC meeting, the party had resolved and approved the dissolution of all the party organs, and had also, in its 4th resolution, unanimously approved the reconstitution and composition of the dissolved Excos to serve in their respective offices in a Caretaker Committee capacity.
They argued that, following the unanimous decision of the NEC, it was clear that the elected APC Excos, led by Eze Nwachukwu Eze, and Jeff Ogbu, among others, still remained the valid APC Caretaker Committee in Ebonyi State, by virtue of the resolution.
The petitioners said, “Our clients are baffled that the new entrants, who (have) yet to formally register as members of the APC in Ebonyi State, are now treating the foundation members of the APC in Ebonyi State as a pariah or strangers and boasted openly that they are the owners of the APC and are now busy demanding for and struggling to take over the structure of the party in Ebonyi State, with the support of some compromised members of the party.
“This is the height of impunity, which is a danger signal, which the party should not joke with or treat with levity.”
They claimed that the imposition of some PDP card-carrying members, led by Stanley Okoro, had attracted condemnation, protests and objection by the teeming foundation members and stakeholders of APC in the state.
“Be informed that the APC constitution remains the ground norm, which guides the party and its members. To be noted that the APC resolution unanimously reached on 08/12/2020 is still valid and subsisting and no member(s) of the Party, no matter how highly placed, can by use of arbitrary fiat, deception; unconventional and illegal method, impose, or adopt the purported APC Caretaker Committee, led by Stanley Okoro, as its Caretaker Committee in Ebonyi State,” the petition read in part.
“To be noted that, should the party insist on the adventure, any acts or actions by the purported APC Caretaker Committee, led by Stanley Okoro, remain null and void, hence the need for the APC NEC and its leadership to look before they leap to avoid any regret or a situation of helplessness, which is inevitable, should the party decide to throw caution to the wind,” it added.
