From Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
Chairmen of nine of the 17 political parties in Ebonyi State yesterday boycotted the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) election scheduled to take place on Friday in Abakaliki. The party chairmen alleged misconduct and high-handedness by the current leadership of IPAC in the state, urging the National Secretariat of the IPAC to cancel the election.
They also accused the Special Assistant (SA) to Govenor David Umahi on Inter-Party Affairs, Mrs Jennifer Adibe- Nwafor, who is also the state Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) of plotting to impose an unpopular leadership on IPAC.
“To make matters worse, Mrs Adibe-Nwafor, convened a meeting at her office in Ebonyi State Old Government House, Abakaliki, on 29th of December, 2021 and informed the chairmen of the various political parties in IPAC that in case of the change of the leadership of IPAC executive of Ebonyi State, that she does not want any person to stand against the incumbent executives who are outgoing, because she wants them back to the seats unchallenged as directed by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State,” the chairmen noted.
The IPAC chairmen made their stance known in a document entitled “Notification of boycott of IPAC election in Ebonyi State slated to hold on 4th day of February, 2022 and the need to reschedule the date for the IPAC election and extension for sales of forms.”