Some Abuja politicians have been accused of desperate move to replace the congress list earlier submitted to the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress, APC. The APC had on 29th July, 2019, held a Local Government congress across the country where delegates for its national convention emerged. At the end of the exercise, the four-man congress committee members had addressed journalists in Enugu, where they okayed the election and asked aggrieved member to channel their grievances to the appeal committee. Shortly after the election, a three-man appeal committee arrived Enugu on Monday, the 30th, to receive petitions from aggrieved party members. However, after three days, the committee chaired by Barr. Ali Nyelong ratified the election, having received no petition. Its report signed by two other members, Hon. Fatima Abdulkareem Alladey, (Secretary) and Hon. Abubakar A. Imam read: “The appeal committee arrived Enugu on 30th July at the State Party office located at 126 Park Avenue, GRA, Enugu, where the committee met and held a brief meeting with the Party chairman, Dr. Ben Nwoye, who was instructed to convey and inform aspirants (contestants) of our party to intimate them of our presence and to let them know that the committee would start her work on the next day by 9 a.m. “On Monday 31st July, 2017, the committee sat from 9:30 to 7 pm without any complain or appeal from any person. On 1st August 2017, the committee also extended her sitting and got the same result (ie no complain or appeal). “Having sat for two days in Enugu State APC party office without any petition or appeal, the appeal committee herby considers the Local Government congress held in the State to be free and fair without contention and upholds the result. “Attached for your further confirmation is the original statement of result as collated by the congress committee, signed, sealed and delivered.” The original result as obtained by DAILY POST was signed by the four members of the election committee sent from the APC national secretariat for the purpose of the congress. They included: Hon. Hussaini Ibrahim (Chairman), Hon. Sani Adamu Dugge (Secretary), Mrs. Chinyere Okwara (Member) and Hon. Kabiru Haruna Getso (member). However, few days after the list was submitted, another delegate list purportedly prepared by two members of the same committee appeared at the APC national secretariat. The list, which was yet to be accepted by the APC leadership in Abuja, was termed “The harmonized List prepared from the original copy of two groups in Enugu State.” It was signed by Kabiru Getso Haruna and Mrs. Chinyere Okwara, who also appended their signatures in the earlier list submitted to the APC leadership. A comparison of the two lists showed that so many politicians who were never close to the congress venue had their names smuggled into the new list. For instance in Udi Local Government Area, the Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, Hon. Mrs. Oby Nwofor and Hon. Magnus Ozongwu participated in the election and emerged victorious. But in the new list, two other names were smuggled in. They include that of Nigeria’s foreign minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama and Mrs. Juliet Ibekaku, a special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on justice reform. The duo were conspicuously absent during the congress. Ibekaku is still on the suspension slammed on her and so many others for alleged anti-party activities. This is even as members of the party are insisting that she was not supposed to be a card-carrying member of any political party. According to them, she was still a staff of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and that she was on secondment to the ministry of justice. Also, in Awgu Local Government Area, the party’s major financier in Enugu State, Emperor Chris Baywood Ibe had his name expunged from the original list. None of the three persons elected in Awgu made the new list prepared by the Abuja politicians. A source within the party’ hierarchy at the national secretariat told DAILY POST that the new list being paraded within the secretariat emanated from some Abuja politicians from Enugu State. He said “they have been trying to substitute the original list with it but that has not worked; they tried to bribe their way through the office of the national chairman but it has not worked; they have also tried to smuggle it in through the office of the national organizing secretary but that has not worked either. “We learnt that some of the committee members collected N2m from the said politicians, with a promise that they will held them substitute the authentic list but that will not happen. “Harmonization is not done after an election; most of them refused to participate in the election, now they want to go behind and substitute those that clearly won their elections. It is not going to happen.” When contacted, Mrs. Okwara said she signed the harmonized list because that would usher in justice. “It is an allegation, a big allegation; we are on the side of justice. God knows that I and my colleague, Kabiru are on the side of justice; we didn’t sign it because of money, nobody gave us a kobo.” As of the time of filling this report, efforts to obtain reactions from Kabiru was unsuccessful as he did not respond to text message sent to his mobile phone.
Also, the foreign minister, Onyeama did not respond to text message sent to his mobile phone.
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