Judex Okoro, Calabar
The Director-General of the Pastor Usani Usani Campaign Organisation, Pastor Ekpenyong Ene Cobham, has described the minister’s suspension as a huge joke taken too far.
He said the party’s leadership by its action was trying to settle personal scores and advised party men to disregard the purported suspension.
According to the DG “to accuse such a man of anti-party activities and claim to suspend him from the party he has helped to build is a joke taken too far and unacceptable.
“To use our party to settle personal and domestic scores is unacceptable and the perpetrators must be called to order.
“The constitution of the party is clear on cases of suspension and outlines to be taken to warrant and effect a suspension.
“If any suspension exists, Usani’s attention should be drawn to it and if such does not exist nor procedures taken in line with the party’s extant laws, then a suspension invariably does not exist,” he stated.
He maintained that the minister’s loyalty to his party had made him the symbol of the party in the state and this was reflected on the fact that he helped the party to win his unit, ward as well as a federal constituency in the last elections.
“Usani has shown sufficient loyalty to the party by helping the party poll 722 votes against PDP’s 2 votes in his unit and more than 4,000 votes for the APC against less than 1,000 votes for PDP in his Abanankpai council ward.
“Usani is the only APC leader in the state to produce his federal constituency representative in the last elections; these and more define his loyalty to our party.”
Pastor Usani Usani was recently suspended by the APC National Working Committee for what it described as anti-party activities.
The NWC was said to have set conditions for Usani to fulfill before his suspension would be lifted.
Some of the conditions included withdrawal of all court cases he instituted; disbandment of his factional state executive and recognition of the Mr John Ochala-led executive as well as the abandonment of his ambition to contest for the governorship of the state.