From Fred Itua, Abuja
Factional chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Edozie Njoku, has called on the national chairman of the party, Victor Oye, to give peace a chance and save the party from unnecessary internal squabbles.
This is coming, even as Njoku said APGA’s national convention held on May 31, 2019, in Owerri, where he and other executives of the party were elected was adopted and ratified “including all the congresses conducted at the wards, local government areas and at the state levels on the 2nd, 3rd and 6th of May, 2019 respectively; in all the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and at the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, including the amendment of the party constitution.”
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Njoku lamented the manner Oye allegedly decided to drag APGA into needless crisis at a time the party like other duly registered political parties should be preparing for the 2023 general elections.
Njoku said despite the credible convention that brought him to power, “Mr. Victor Ike Oye proceeded to hold an illegal National Executive Council, NEC, meeting on May 14th, 2019. That gathering was prompted by his observation that the party congresses conducted on the 2nd, 3rd and 6th of May, 2019 produced delegates that were not favourably disposed to his second term ambition,” adding that “the illegal NEC meeting, which was held at the Governor’s lodge, Awka, Anambra state did not meet the mandatory 21 days’ notice of such meeting.”
Questioned on how to explain why the NEC meeting convened by Oye was illegal, Njoku noted that unknown to the former, “the tenures of the executives at the wards, local governments and state levels were due to expire on the 15th of May, 2019. Oye disregarded this important fact and went ahead with his illegal NEC gathering, and conducted fresh congresses on the 19th, 21st and 23rd of May, 2019, after party executives’ tenures at the ward, local government and state levels had expired on the 15th of May, 2019.
“Subsequently, by the judgement of the Oyo State High Court, which was upheld by the Ibadan Appeal Court, the kangaroo convention was invalidated, meaning they were conducted with Executives whose tenures had expired. Based on that, it was obvious that the delegates that were used to perpetrate the illegal convention were not valid.”
He noted that after the Owerri convention that brought him to office, “Mr. Victor Ike Oye, filed a suit at the FCT High Court in Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/2086/2019 Holden at Jabi, Abuja against Chief Edozie Njoku and APGA challenging the election and the return of Chief Edozie Njoku as the national chairman of APGA. It is important to note that the claimant in this Suit, Mr. Victor Ike Oye applied to the court for an order of substituted service to be served on Chief Edozie Njoku at APGA’s National Secretariat, as his last known address.
“While the FCT High Court, Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/2086/2019 was still pending; Mr. Victor Ike Oye applied and obtained an Interim Order of Injunction restraining Chief Edozie Njoku from parading himself as the national chairman of APGA and equally restraining APGA from recognizing Chief Edozie Njoku as its national chairman.”
In the APGA Statement of Defense, the party made a counterclaim against Mr. VOye insisting that Chief Edozie Njoku is the national chairman of APGA. As a result, Oye quickly withdrew the said suit, leaving the counterclaim which is still subsisting till date.
“Consequently, all the previous orders granted by the said court, including interlocutory order of injunction restraining Chief Edozie Njoku from parading himself as the national chairman, and the party (APGA) from recognizing him as its national chairman were vacated,” the records revealed.
Expressing readiness to play by the rules, Njoku urged Oye maintain status quo ante until the court rules either way.