■ NWC shifts LG congress
George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The Imo State APC Secretariat along Okigwe road was yesterday evening set on fire by yet to identified persons ahead of the Local Government Congress of the party scheduled to hold tomorrow.
Although the fire outbreak only affected the interior part of the building while the external structure was spared. When Saturday Sun visited the Secretariat at 6:30pm amidst heavy rainfall, smoke was seen coming out from inside the offices. However, no member of the state executive was sighted at the time of the fire incident.
The Chairman of the Party, Dr. Hilary Eke who confirmed the incident however blamed it on those who he said lost out in the Ward
Congress conducted last Saturday. He said it was the same hoodlums who attacked members of the party at the Secretariat during the Ward Congress.
Eke said that the intention of the hoodlums and their sponsors was to ensure that the Local government Congress did not hold on Saturday. According to him “I have been in a meeting ahead of the LGA congress of the party in Imo state. Those who attacked the Secretariat the other Saturday are likely to be the same people who set it on fire on Friday.
Despite the provocation ,the LGA congress must go on on Saturday. We have already elected five men per ward during the Ward Congress. The Congress does not take place at party secretariat, it will take place in the 27 LGAs of the state on Saturday.”
Meanwhile, the APC has postponed Saturday’s Local Government Congress in Imo State pending receipt of the Appeal Committee’s report on the Ward Congress conducted in the State.
The Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha met with the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and other members of the Party’s National Working Committee (NWC) where the decision was reached. According to the National Chairman who confirmed the development, a new date for the Local Government Areas Congress will be announced in due course.
The National Chairman of APC, Chief Odigie-Oyegun said: “ Yes, the party has shifted the Local Government Congress in Imo pending the report of the Appeal Committee.”
