Crisis In Anambra APC Worsens As Faction Suspends Chairman

By Adesina Soyooye

For Chief Basil Ejidike, the Anambra State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, trouble looms, as his seat has become shaky.

The State APC has been in crisis since it lost the November 6 Governorship election to the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, the ruling party in the State. The APGA candidate, Professor Charles Soludo, won the election, beating the APC candidate, Senator Andy Uba to a distant third position.

Ejidike, as did other high profile members of the party, including the candidate, lost his Local Government Area. On November 7, a video of a “slumped” and distraught Ejidike made the rounds when he learnt that he lost his area to APGA.

Now, he has more troubles in his hands. He has been suspended by a “faction” of the party which has alleged abuse of power and high handedness on his part. He is also accused of insubordination.

In a statement issued in Awka on Thursday  a chieftain of the party, Okonkwo Okom, announced Ejidike’s suspension.

Perhaps, the most serious allegation against him, Okom said, is his inability, as Chairman, to  convene a state congress. The Congress, Okom said, could have been able to deal with the many  challenges confronting the party in the State, and had breached the party’s constitution a couple of times.

Okom: “The State chapter of the APC jointly convened by more than two-thirds of the members of the State Executive Committee and not less than two-thirds of the 21 Local Government Area Chairmen of the APC with the mandate of the 326 Ward Chairmen in the state decided to suspend Ejidike.”

Part of the Statement reads:

“That Mr Basil Ejidike be and is hereby suspended forthwith from office as the Caretaker Chairman of All Progressives Congress in Anambra State, pending his appearance before a Disciplinary/Fact-Finding Committee of the Party.

“That the next most senior available official of the party in the state is mandated to convene an emergency meeting of the state executive committee in consultation with the leader of the party in Anambra State, Dr Chris Ngige, within the next 14 days from the date hereof to discuss the modalities for strengthening and repositioning the All Progressives Congress and for moving the party forward in Anambra State.

“That Mr Basil Ejidike shall be referred to the Disciplinary/Fact-Finding Committee of the party in the state as prescribed by the APC constitution to answer to charges of abuse of power and office, diversion and conversion of party property, flagrant sabotage, subversion and breach of the party’s constitution, insubordination and disrespect to the Office and person of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, embezzlement and misappropriation of party’s funds, among other charges.

“That as required by the party’s constitution, these resolutions shall be immediately transmitted to the National Caretaker and Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee for immediate implementation.”

However, in his response to the suspension notice, Ejidike described the party’s stakeholders action as laughable.

“Those people are not members of our party. They are renegades who left the party after our primaries in June. They can’t suspend me.

“As I’m talking to you I’m at the National Secretariat of our party in Abuja. Their claim is laughable. What is the position of the person that convened the meeting that sacked me? They are trying to see if they can instigate a crisis in our party; that is their only interest.”

There has been no reaction from either Ejidike or the APC National Secretariat.