A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State, Eze Nwachukwu, has refuted media report about leadership crisis in the state chapter of the party.
Mr Nwachukwu, who is the commissioner for Inter-Governmental Affairs in the state, is the immediate past chairman of APC in the state.
“It has become expedient that I react to the publication alleging leadership crisis in our great party over the appointment of Okoro-Emegha as chairman, Caretaker Committee of APC in Ebonyi.
“I am the immediate past chairman of APC and the emergence of Okoro-Emegha as the current chairman, caretaker committee is a welcome development and it followed laid down legal and constitutional provisions of our party,” Mr Nwachukwu said on Saturday at a press briefing in Abakaliki.
Continuing, the former APC chairman said, “As the leader of the State Working Committee (SWC) I and other members stepped aside when the national leadership of the party led by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe came here and inaugurated the committee which we all accepted.
“We know it in principle as enshrined in our party constitution in 2013 that if a governor joins the party, he automatically takes over the party structure.
“This provision made it possible for Saraki and Mr Rotimi Amaechi as then governors of Kwara and Rivers respectively to take over the APC structure in their states during their defection from the New PDP.”
He said it was wrong for some persons to insist that former SWC members which were removed in accordance with the party constitution be reinstated.
“I am a founding member of APC and have held several positions in the party, the group calling for the dissolution of the Okoro-Emegha-led caretaker committee are not members of our party, they are faceless individuals,” he added.
Mr Nwachukwu extolled the Umahi-led administration for promoting infrastructure development in the state, transparency and fiscal accountability in governance.
Newsmen reported that a group led by Sylvester Oketa, Linus Nweze and Joseph Nweke had described the Okoro-Emegha-led committee as illegal and unconstitutional and called on the national leadership to restore the former NWC.
The Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the APC.
