Enugu APC: We never expelled state chairman –Ward

From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu

All Progressives Congress (APC), Udi/Agbudu Ward, in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu, has dismissed as fake, reports in the media that it has expelled one of its ward member and state Chairman of the party, Ugochukwu Agballah.

Passing a vote of confidence in Agballah as the APC chairman, the ward said the purported expulsion was just a figment of the enemies of the party in the state.

Rising from an emergency ward meeting at Eke Udi Market Square and attended by a good number of the members, the Udi/Agbudu ward members noted that the purported expulsion by ward chairman and secretary was unknown to them and strange, and, therefore, passed a vote of confidence in Clinton Ezeago and Francis Onyia, whom they said are their ward chairman and secretary respectively.

In a statement of disclaimer read to newsmen at the end of the meeting by Ezeago, the party said Ferdinand Aduma and Francis Onyia, signatories to the purported expulsion letter were known members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), being used to cause distraction in the APC as the PDP was afraid of the growing popularity and acceptance of APC in the state.

“There was never a meeting of APC Udi/Agbudu ward where the issue of suspension, debarment or expulsion or otherwise of Agballah was ever raised or any time any manner of report was raised against him or any disciplinary committee set up on such a report or disciplinary action taken, as our state chairman has not committed any infraction against the constitution of the party. “We met on August 17, 2022. The meeting was recorded on video and the minutes captured in our minutes note book. At that meeting, we had 248 members in attendance and nobody raised the issue of any report whatsoever against our hardworking state chairman.

“From a careful reading of the laughable and phantom expulsion letter, one can deduce that the writers of the debarment, suspension and expulsion letter are not conversant with the constitutional procedure for disciplinary actions as contained in our party’s constitution.  Section 21.3 vi (b) of the APC March 26, 2022 constitution as amended stipulates that if there is a report against a member at the ward level, the local government area executive shall be the adjudicators.”