The Alex Otti-led faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia state has sacked the Reverend Augustine Ehiemere and Elder Sunday Onukwubiri as the state chairman and secretary, respectively.
In their stead, they elected 26-man State Working Committee (SWC) with Nkem Okoro emerging as the new chairman and Dr Onyebuchi Onyegbule the state secretary.
This was at a well-attended congress held in Umuahia, the Abia state capital, where they also elected ward executives, including chairmen for the 17 local government areas and three zonal vice chairmen of the party.
Others elected were, Hon Elvis Wabara (deputy chairman), Hon Ebere Uzokwa (publicity secretary), Chief Kalu Okpo Kalu (vice chairman Abia north), Mr Pino Nwagbaso (vice chairman (Abia south) and Evangelist Innocent Okamgba (vice chairman, Abia central).
Speaking after being elected, the new chairman Okoro condemned what he called “the brigandage and illegality allegedly perpetrated by some usurpers and hoodlums who regrouped and attempted to hijack our great party, apparently to pursue a fraudulent, selfish agenda at the detriment of the ideals of our party as the leading voice of the opposition and the watershed of the democratic struggle to revive the state.
“We wish to announce that the purported exercise and the illegal gathering of some persons at the party’s secretariat on 23rd May, masterminded by the former state chairman, Rev Augustine Ehiemere and his co-travelers, were nothing but a sham and nullity hence a court of competent jurisdiction declared it null and void.
“In as much we don’t intend to join issues with the former state chairman, Rev. Ehiemere and his sponsors/paymasters, the salient and incontrovertible fact remains that Abia APGA is intact, indivisible and purposeful under the leadership of our amiable and dynamic Governorship candidate, Dr. Alex Otti, OFR and other leaders sharing a common vision of lifting Abia from the doldrums of backwardness and bad governance to the pedestal of good governance and redemptive leadership.
“May we therefore use this medium to pass an implicit vote of confidence on Dr. Alex Otti, OFR for providing the rightful leadership and the wherewithal that politically elevated and sustained Abia APGA as the leading opposition party and the voice of the groaning masses in the state since 2014 till date”, he said.
