Going by their recent inglorious outings it has not come to us as a surprise that the losing gang of political opportunists in Abia APC would stop at nothing in their quest to take control through the back door. They have picked our indefatigable Leader, High Chief Ikechi Emenike as their main target of smear attacks.
It appears that the gang led by the disgraced Donatus Nwankpa derives morbid pleasure in throwing mud at the builder of Abia APC.
We have noticed that a certain media bandit that masquerades as nigeriaparrot.com has been recruited to take Nwankpa’s dastardly music to Opera News platform to continue the macabre dance. Under the guise of a statement from a phantom group, Youths for Progressive Alliance(YFPA) signed by the faceless duo of Emmanuel Nwabuko and Nwanevo Okeugo, the hirings accused Emenike of “betraying President Buhari” and also “made away with huge campaign funds” of the party. The statement was laced with wild allegations meant to prop up the screaming headline. But they failed woefully to achieve their nefarious objective.
It is really despicable seeing the strenuous efforts being made by those already consigned to the muddy pit in their attempt to drag those above board into their miry abode to wallow with them. Chief Emenike is on the immaculate plane far above his traducers. No matter how hard they try to fling their mud at him, it would neither reach their target nor stain him. The said statement by the u known group stinks with envy, jealousy and hateful vengeance against a man they perceived to have humiliated them at the party congress from ward to local government and state levels.
First, they referred to the highly respected APC stakeholder as “suspended” Secretary of the APC Contact and Strategy Committee. Isn’t that a self contradictory vituperation. Could the national leadership of our party have given a suspended member such high position and allow him to continue in that capacity? Certainly NO. Let it be known that Chief Emenike has NEVER been suspended from his party, APC. Such suspension only exists in the warped mnds of mishief makers in the fold of Donatus Nwankpa and his gang of political merchants.
If Nwankpa and those propping him up can, for once, tell themselves the home truth, they should genuinely confess that Emenike deserved all the appointments that have come to him. They should not begrugde him having sacrificed so much for APC to firm up in Abia. Whatever growth the party has recorded between 2015 and the present is attributable to the Emenike factor. It was he who stood and identified with President Buhari at a time he was regarded as a pariah in Abia while APC was treated with disdain. How can any sane person accuse Chief Emenike of betraying Mr. President? Haba!
It’s incontrovertible that none of these self-styled leaders and elders in Abia APC contributed in any form to build the party to its present status of acceptability and attractiveness. They only bask in the faded euphoria of the little political relevance they got in their former parties which has not added any value to APC. They only came to the dining table after the food was ready and table set. And instead of being appreciative to the person that prepared the food and set the table, the ingrates are now upturning the table and scattering the plates and cutlery, thereby sowing seeds of crisis in Abia APC.
It was Chief Emenike who committed his resources in building the party in Abia, setting up structures in all the 184 wards of the state. Any wonder it was easy for his loyalists to take the upper hand in the party congresses. So, why are the losers green with envy, grumbling that Emenike has attracted “enormous goodwill from the party”. One can see through the veneer of their attacks on a great party man, who is reaping the rewards of his consistent loyalty, commitment and hard work for the growth of the party.
It was after Chief Emenike had toured all the 17 local governments of Abia several times preaching the gospel of change that APC started experiencing acceptability in the state. That was what attracted the hitherto chieftains of PDP, APGA and other parties to flock into the party. Many of them did not join APC because they love the party or Mr. President. The defectors just came for refuge. It’s on record that Senator Orji Uzor Kalu only joined APC after he was blocked from returning to PDP where he originally belonged and where his heart still dwells. And because APC is the ruling party these opportunists only see our party as the means to actualize their political ambitions. Until he came to APC, Kalu had failed in his two previous attempts to represent Abia North in the Senate.
The unfortunate episode in the life of Abia APC was the foisting of Donatus Nwankpa on the party. There was no congress; there was no election to test his popularity in the party. It was through the instrumentality of Rochas Okorocha, then APC governor of neighbouring Imo State that Nwankpa found himself taking the unmerited title of state chairman of APC in Abia. He was soon to reveal his treacherous character which set him against other members of the State Executive Committee.
Nwankpa was eventually sacked by an Abia State High Court sitting at Okpuala Ngwa on March 26, 2018 in Suit No. HIN/4/2018. He was replaced with Dr Emmanuel Ndukwe. The Court specifically ordered the then National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, (who was a co-defendant in the matter) and the entire National Working Committè(NWC) to refrain from having anything to do with Nwankpa. But because of the reign of impunity and disregard to the rule of law at the time, Nwankpa was allowed to hang on illegally. Even after his failed bid to vacate his removal on June 30, 2019 when the Court refused to reverse is earlier order, Nwankpa still held on in tandem with his lawless personality. Sadly, the then national, leadership of APC was complicit in the infamy.
If Nwankpa had obeyed the Court and stepped aside, Abia APC would have been saved from any modicum of crisis. But the stubborn and lawlessness nature of Donatus Nwankpa took the better of him. His equally lawless co-travellers were on hand as cheerleaders. Indeed, Nwakpa and his group have engaged in serial disobedience to Court Orders and party directives. When the National Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) under the able leadership of Governor Mai Mala Buni sent a Congress Committees to conduct the exercise in Abia, Nwankpa and his group disobeyed.
With the help of Abia State government which offered them venue free of charge, Nwankpa and his gang held a charade in the name of parallel congress. They also went ahead to defy the party and challenged the authentic ward congress duly conducted in July 2021 by the Committee sent by the CECPC. The Suit No. HUK/33/2021 filed at Abia High Court in Ukwa was eventually struck out for lack of merit. Let those behind the YFPA mask tell the world who is the real son of disobedience to all donstituted authorities.
The political hackers veiled as YFPA maliciously alleged that Chief Emenike misappropriated N3 billion campaign funds and used same to buy houses in Abuja! It’s so easy for character assassins to make salacious claims to achieve their aim. Pray, at what level of the party – Local Government, State or Federal – was the said campaign fund raised? And in what capacity was Emenike for him to be in custody of the funds? One thing that these hired character assassins and their sponsors should be sure of is that they can NEVER stain Chief Emenike. He is a man of high level principles, integrity and transparency. That is why Mr. President is so comfortable to relate with him over the years.
On the contrary, President Buhari uses a very long spoon to dine with the grossly corrupt politicians hiding in Abia APC. Emenike is a self-made man, who has been doing business with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund(IMF) and other reputable international institutions. You cannot operate at that level if you lack integrity, transparency, truthfulness, honesty, accountability and high moral standing. The local operators in Abia APC, who are now fighting tooth and nail to take control of the party lack these qualities. That is why they are envious of Chief Emenike.
Once again we call on the national leadership of our party to rein in these disgruntled, disoriented and disabled politicians in Abia APC. They are spreading deadly virus in our party. And urgent action is needed not just to contain the spread, but to clinically eliminate the virus. The weeds should not be allowed to grow with the wheat, lest they choke the desired crops. Let the agent provocateurs be reminded once more that the united Abia APC family would not surrender their duly elected party leadership to impostors and political merchants. The gang up against Chief Emenike must stop. We will not be distracted as we continue to prepare for the great battle ahead to liberate Abia from the ravaging locusts of PDP come 2023.
SIGNED:
Hon Sterling Uruakpa
Assistant Secretary, Abia APC
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