By Johnson Nwankwo
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Enugu State, Comrade Ken Offorma, says those behind the ex parte order restraining the state chairman of the party, Barr Ugochukwu Agballa, from parading himself in that capacity are being sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party in the state.
Offorma, a former vice chairman, Nigerian Union of Journalists, South East, accused some notable figures in the state of wearing the toga of APC at the national level, and working against the party in the state.
Recall that an Enugu State High Court granted the order barring Barr Agballa and some of his executive members from parading themselves in their official APC capacities until the determination of the motion on notice.
Offorma said, “A previous PDP-led administration in the state sponsored two factions of APC. These factions were going to the Government House in wee hours of the day to collect largesse. They were working for the PDP. Some interests want to take the same pattern. They know that it is only APC that can pose a huge threat to PDP in the state. The ex parte order so gotten did not include the party in the case. The zonal wing of the party has written to the National Judiciary Council over the matter.”
Offorma recalled that former Senate President Chief Ken Nnamani; former Governor Sullivan Chime and former state chairman of the party, Dr Ben Nwoye, were suspended by the party after the 2023 elections for anti-party activities.
According to him, “They have not stopped they romance with the ruling party. They are the ones that announced Agballa’s suspension. They got a vacation judge to obtain the ex parte order in a matter that is not emergency.”
Meanwhile, a former Enugu State chairman of APC, Dr Ben Nwoye, has warned APC leaders against making remarks capable of causing chaos within the party. Nwoye was reacting to the position of the South-East national vice chairman of the APC, Dr Ijeomah Arodiogbu, which discredited the ex parte order that restrained the state chairman of the party, Barr Agballah, and other state party executives from parading themselves in those capacities.
Nwoye said Arodiogbu bore the responsibility of fostering unity among party members, adding that statements inciting divisions had no place in a progressive democracy. According to him, no one is above the law, hence Arodiogbu should be cautious to avoid declarations that contradict legal rulings.
He stated that, “When a political leader assumes the role of a judge, and makes statements that defy legal tenets, it raises significant concerns. Obeying the law must not be contingent on personal gains; we are obliged to adhere to it irrespective of whose interests are at stake.
“As a national vice chairman, Dr Arodiogbu is obligated to embrace a paternal role, whether he acknowledges it or not. It is neither his prerogative nor right to interpret constitutional matters unilaterally. The court has already decreed that Ugochukwu Agballah and certain others are no longer entitled to execute their duties, and they must refrain from accessing APC property. Any pronouncement from a leader like Arodiogbu serves only to sow seeds of anarchy in Enugu State.”
