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Alleged plot to re-elect Odigie-Oyegun splits Cross River APC

By Anietie Akpan (Calabar) Charles Akpeji (Jailingo) and Oluwaseun Akingboye (Akure)
22 May 2018   |   3:40 am
A plot to support the re-election of outgoing National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has divided the party in Cross River State.A group loyal to the National Vice Chairman, South South, Ntufam Hilliard Eta, accused the Minister of Niger Delta, Pastor Usani Usani of leading the plot.

APC Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun

• ‘Taraba congress a threat to party’s fortune’
• Boroffice flays attack on journalists in Ondo

A plot to support the re-election of outgoing National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has divided the party in Cross River State.A group loyal to the National Vice Chairman, South South, Ntufam Hilliard Eta, accused the Minister of Niger Delta, Pastor Usani Usani of leading the plot.

The Guardian leant that Usani is planning to use the Odigie-Oyegun’s platform to facilitate his governorship ambition in the state.Eta said the intrigues affected the recent conduct of the APC congresses, which he said, ended up in controversies.

The trouble was said to have started on May 5 during the ward congresses, when the Eta group accosted the Stanley Ekezie-led committee at a hotel in Calabar.This followed allegation that the committee hijacked the electoral materials meant for the ward congresses to consolidate their plan.The disagreement caused the indefinite postponement of the ward congresses and the keeping of election materials in police custody.

According to the source, Odigie-Oyegun was said to have reconstituted another committee led by Major Gen. Azegaku Umaru (rtd) to replace the former chairman, Ekezie.Again, on May 19 another committee, led by Useni Adamu, conducted a controversial state congress, which created further crisis.

It was leant that the Eta-led group did not participate in the congress, prompting their rejection of the congress that produced Mr. John Etim as the new chairman, describing the delegates’ list used as fake.

However, the Secretary of the congress committee, Mr. Reginald Nwakwe disclosed that the party ha remained united.Also, a member of the Usani group, Sam Bassey denied that there was a faction in the party.

Meanwhile, APC chieftains in Taraba State have condemned the outcome of the party’s congresses in the state. This followed the parallel congresses that produced two chairmen and various executives in the state.

The two chairmen are the Special Adviser to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Legislative Matters, Tukur Ibrahim El-Sudi, and the former state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abdulmumuni Vaki.

An aggrieved Senator Yusuf A. Yusuf accused the Minister of Women Affairs, Senator Aisha Jumai Alhassan of using her influence and “money to destroy” the party.In Ondo State, the Senator representing Ondo North Senatorial District, Prof. Ajayi Boroffice, has commiserated with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). This followed the attacks on journalists during the state congress in the state.Boroffice, who paid a sympathy visit to journalists at the Correspondent Chapel, Akure decried the attacks and brutality of media personnel by thugs, describing it as highest level of incivility.

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