When the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Benjamin Kalu, said his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), would win Abia state come 2027, countless voices attacked him, especially online.

But a short while later, the 2023 gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, made a similar statement concerning Lagos state.

Rhodes-Vivour boasted that his party will not only win the presidential election in 2027, but also take over Lagos from the APC.

Now the voices that attacked and condemned the Honourable Deputy Speaker for the innocuous statement he made on Abia have gone quiet, and no one has come out to attack Rhodes-Vivour for saying exactly the same thing about Lagos.

Rhodes-Vivour’s statement on Lagos was even worse than what Kalu said about Abia, because the Deputy Speaker acknowledged that while the governor, Alex Otti, has performed well, Abians will reward President Tinubu for his good deeds and kindness to the state, by giving power to the APC in the state come 2027.

But Rhodes-Vivour in his statement, outrightly wrote off the government of Lagos state as having failed.

And so sane minds and right thinking people are asking, where are those who condemned the Deputy Speaker for merely saying something any other politician would say about their party’s chances of winning any state in the country?

…deploys soldiers, policemen, Govt agents to Edozie Njoku’s Awka office

By Chuks Collins, Awka

The Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, has allegedly deployed heavily armed security operatives including soldiers, mobile policemen and state government agents to seal off the head office of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) led by Edozie Njoku in Awka.

Addressing a gathering of journalists amidst party faithfuls at the gate of the sealed, the Vice National Chairman (South East), Engr TonyUche Ezekwelu expressed shock that state governor could lock out officers and members of the party that produced him.

Ezekwelu lamented that change of party leaders and control is not in anyway a death sentence but a rejigging of party structure for effective performance and political alertness.

He described the act of sealing the party office as politically motivated, especially when other adjoining/adjacent offices including the Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo, the office of the governor’s wife was affected.

According to the party chief, the state government agents, the soldiers and policemen stormed the APGA state headquarters located on Road One of Udoka Housing Estate to carry out the action in the early hours of Tuesday, August 27,2024.

Reacting vide a telephone interview from his Abuja national office, Chief Edozie Njoku, confirmed having received information and reports about the sealing of the party’s head office by Anambra state government officials.

He said he would consult immediately with the National Secretariat of the party on the matter and would take appropriate necessary action immediately.

Hear him, “It is true, I got the information this morning (Tuesday) that the party office was sealed by a government agency.

“So, I am consulting with the National Secretariat. It is after the consultation that we will decide on the action we take.

” I need to know the true facts on the ground, and my Secretaries are making calls; once we have the true picture, we can have a proper and accurate reaction.”

This sealing of the office antic was sequel to the manipulation of the state independent electoral commission (ANSIEC) which drove away the new leadership of the new Edozie Njoku-led APGA from a top level all-party/Stakeholders interactive meeting in Awka about a week ago.

A note left behind showed that the officers were from the Anambra State Housing Development Corporation. That the occupants should show evidence that the residence was procedurally converted to a commercial premises.

These scheming and manipulations made political watchers assume that the governor do not have genuine intention for the planned September 28,2024 Council poll in the state.

The Barr Ugochukwu Agballah-led All Progressives Congress, APC, in Enugu State, on Saturday, announced the suspension of 20 members of the party.

This is coming days after another faction of the party announced the suspension of Agballah, alongside other party officials.

Weekend’s development has deepened the crisis rocking the State Chapter of the party as both camps continued to lay claim to the state party structure.

However, arising from a stakeholders’ meeting held at the party’s secretariat, the Agballah-led group announced the suspension of all those involved in the earlier action.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy National Chairman of the Party, South, Chief Emma Eneukwu, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, former lawmaker, Senator Chukwuka Utazi, Agballah, among others.

Eneukwu, who represented the National Chairman of the Party, Abdullahi Ganduje said Agballah remained the chairman of the party in Enugu State.

He said the national secretariat of the APC was unaware of the removal of Agballah, as the purported action did not follow due process.

Meanwhile, in a communique read by Senator Utazi, the party announced the suspension of the following persons: Uche Egbonwonu, Chibuike Onoduagu, Ubah Onah, Clifford Ezema, Ages Agu, Paul Olinya, the Welfare Secretary, Innocent Uroko, Obetta Ifeoma, Zonal Youth Leader, Harrison Obochi and Publicity Secretary, Michael Ezeanyanwu.

Others are Zonal Chairman, West, Alphonsus Nwafor, State Asst. Organising Secretary, David Nwobodo, State Asst Auditor, Sunday Onah, State Youth Leader, Peter Chime, Enugu South LGA Chairman, Ndubuisi Agbo, Enugu West Zonal Youth Leader, Onyeka Ezegbunam, Awgu LGA Secretary, Samuel Okonkwo, Innocent Ogbodo, Nnamani Denis Sunday and Eze Ugwu Christian.

The communique said the meeting frowned at” the recent display of gross indiscipline and total disregard to the APC Constitution by some misguided party members who met in a hotel and purportedly announced the suspension of the Enugu state Chairman of APC, Hon. Ugochukwu H. Agballah; the State Deputy Chairman, Chief Augustine Alumonah; the State Treasurer, Hon Jude Aniogbo and the State Organising Secretary, Hon. Emeka Eze.”

The stakeholders alleged that the actors were only 14 in number but that they went ahead to forge peoples signatures and append their names as if they were part of the illegality, without their consent.

“More than 35 persons whose signatures were forged and names appended in the purported suspension document without their consent have issued a disclaimer distancing themselves from the illegality.

“The stakeholders further observed that the purported suspension did not follow due process as no meeting was held, no petition was written and it was never discussed at SEC and the national levels were never notified, no fact finding was made in accordance with the party’s Constitution before the purported announcement of illegal suspension.

“The stakeholders hereby accept the recommendations of the Disciplinary Committee suspending the actors from the party.

“They were invited by the Disciplinary Committee to state their position but they refused to come. They were therefore given fair hearing.”

The Party said it had set up an eight-man Committee to review the case of those who were earlier suspended by the party but have now indicated interest to return to the party.

The Enugu APC stakeholders thanked Ndigbo for not participating in the recent protest against the government of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

“We have absolute confidence in the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President.

“The APC Enugu State is ready and will fully participate in the forthcoming Enugu State Local government Council Elections,” the communique further read.

It could be recalled that a High Court sitting in Enugu had also restrained Agballah and some others from parading themselves as officials of the party.

The court order was not vacated by Agballah and his group before Saturday’s stakeholders’ meeting suspending the plaintiffs in the pending case and others in the opposing camp.

Though the faction is yet to officially react to the recent suspension, a member of the camp dismissed it as a nullity saying Agballah remained suspended as the court other restraining him from parading himself as the state chairman of APC was still valid just as the suit against his leadership is pending before the court.