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Tag: APGA

  • Anambra Decides: APGA chairman, predecessor, unhappy over governorship poll

    Anambra Decides: APGA chairman, predecessor, unhappy over governorship poll

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Victor Oye has expressed doubts over the governorship poll in the state.

    Oye while voting at Amawbia Ward 3, Polling Unit 003 in Awka South LGA, expressed dissatisfaction over the malfunctioning of the BIVAS machine.

    He said, “With the massive turnout of voters at the polling unit, I’m afraid that many eligible voters might be disenfranchised.”

    Similarly, a former chairman of the party, Chief Victor Oye, while voting at his Aguluizigbo Ward accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of being in ‘partnership with APC to rig the Anambra gubernatorial election.’

     

  • Anambra election: Gov. Obiano’s aide dumps APGA for PDP

    Anambra election: Gov. Obiano’s aide dumps APGA for PDP

    Ahead of Saturday Anambra governorship election, a Special Adviser to Gov. Willie Obiano, Chief Tommy Okoli, has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Okoli , former governorship aspirant under the ruling All Progressives Alliance (APGA), announced his defection at a rally on Thursday in Ukpor, Nnewi South Local Government Area of the state.

    He said he was supporting the candidature of Mr Valentine Ozigbo and his running mate, Mrs Azuka Enemo of the PDP in the election.

    According to him, he is throwing his weight behind Ozigbo, having x-rayed all the candidates and finding PDP most qualified for the task of “redeeming” Anambra.

    Okoli said he had consulted widely the people of his constituency who wholly supported his decision to join the PDP.

    “I have decided to endorse the ticket of PDP with Mr Valentine Ozigbo and Azuka Enemuo as governorship candidate and running mate respectively to win the Nov. 6 election in Anambra State.

    “I will use all the resources, contacts and enormous goodwill available to me to support their ticket.

    “I took this difficult decision after due consultation with my campaign organisation and therefore urge members of this platform to please vote for Val Ozigbo and Azuka Enemuo.

    “These two people are decent, humble a d compassionate people, capable of transforming Anambra into a more prosperous and secured state, we shall all be proud of.

    “I offered myself to serve as the Governor of Anambra State, but Valentine Ozigbo will equally do better by providing purposeful leadership for our people,” he said.

    Okoli thanked Obiano for giving him the opportunity to serve and for the support he enjoyed while in APGA.

    ” I hereby withdraw my membership of APGA.

    “I sincerely appreciate, His Excellency Willie Obiano for giving me the opportunity to serve in his administration and I pray to the Almighty God to bless him and his family.

    “Thank you so much for your support and may God reward everyone in Jesus name,” he said.

  • Anambra poll: APGA’s Soludo accuses APC’s Uba of kidnapping, certificate forgery

    Anambra poll: APGA’s Soludo accuses APC’s Uba of kidnapping, certificate forgery

    Anambra governorship aspirant, Charles Soludo, has accused his opponent Andy Uba of kidnapping and forgery.

    The two clashed during the Anambra Gubernatorial Debate organised by Arise TV on Monday.

    Soludo, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, accused Andy of kidnapping a sitting governor and forging his Senior Secondary School Certificate.

    Speaking to Uba, he said, “You don’t have a Senior School Certificate Examination result. Did you obtain a Senior School Certificate Examination result Certificate in 1974, did you? It’s forgery!

    Ubah recently appeared in court over the school certificate he allegedly submitted for the election. The court documents stated that the Form EC9 he submitted to INEC was full of false information.

    The year Uba claims he sat for the exams, 1974, the West African Examinations Council, who was listed in the suit, did not conduct the SSCE.

    Soludo, who is the flag bearer of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in the election, accused Uba, who is with the All Progressive Congress, of allegedly being part of those who masterminded the abduction of a former Anambra State governor.

    “My co-debator Andy Uba] by my right kidnapped a sitting governor.”

    The Anambra Governorship election is scheduled to hold on Saturday, November 6. The debate featured the three candidates representing the APC, APGA, and the PDP.

  • Anambra guber: Supreme Court affirms Soludo as APGA’s flag bearer

    Anambra guber: Supreme Court affirms Soludo as APGA’s flag bearer

    The Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed Professor Charles Soludo as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the Anambra election slated to hold on November 6, 2021.

    The five-man panel led by Justice Mary Odili also affirmed Mr. Victor Oye as the chairman of the party.

    The apex court, in a unanimous decision by a five-man panel of justices led by Justice Mary Odili, upheld the judgement of the Kano State Division of the Court of Appeal, which validated the primary election that produced Soludo.

    According to the Supreme Court, the appellate court was right when it quashed a Jigawa State High Court judgement that recognised a parallel primary election that was conducted by the Jude Okeke-led faction of APGA.

    It will be recalled that Soludo emerged from the primary election that was organised by the Chief Victor Oye-led faction of the party.

    Thursday’s ruling ends the long-running battle over the leadership of the party and candidature for the Anambra guber poll.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that in July, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had omitted the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor’s name from the list of candidates for the election and instead listed Chukwuma Umeoji as the party’s flag bearer.

    The electoral body had explained that its decision was based on court orders, a move Soludo described as surprising.

    But a month later, the Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC made a u-turn and named Soludo as the APGA candidate for the Anambra election.

    Again, the commission said the development was in line with court judgements on the matter.

    “The commission was served with the judgement of the Court of Appeal (Kano Division) which set aside the judgement of the High Court of Jigawa State on the leadership of APGA and the nomination of its candidates for the Anambra Governorship election,” INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye explained.

  • Supreme Court affirms Victor Oye as APGA Chairman

    Supreme Court affirms Victor Oye as APGA Chairman

    The Supreme Court on Thursday, upheld the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Kano Division delivered on Aug. 10, which affirmed Mr Victor Oye as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA).

    The Victor Oye’s faction of the party conducted the primary that produced Prof. Charles Soludo, as it’s governorship candidate for the Nov. 6, governorship election in Anambra.

    Soludo’s nomination had been accepted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as candidate of APGA in the Nov. 6 governorship poll.

    Mr Jude Okeke, however, challenged the authenticity of the Oye leadership at a Federal High Court in Jigawa where Judgment was given in his favour.

    However, the Jigawa judgment was set aside by the Appeal Court leading him to proceed to the Supreme Court to nullify the appellate court’s decision.

    Delivering judgment in the appeal, the apex court in a unanimous judgment held that the internal issue of political parties’ was outside the jurisdiction of courts.

    The court consequently upheld the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which resolved the leadership tussle of APGA in favor of Oye and also upheld the primary election conducted by his leadership which produced Soludo as APGA governorship candidate for the Nov. 6 governorship election.

    Justice Hamma Zamani of the Kano Division of the Court of Appeal had on Aug. 10 in his judgment, set aside the judgment of a Jigawa High Court, which had earlier declared Jude Okeke and Chukwuma Umeoji as APGA’s National Chairman and governorship candidate respectively.

    The appellate court held that the trial court erred by entertaining a suit wherein it lacked jurisdiction.

    In their unanimous decision, the seven member panel, resolved the issue against the appellant.

    The apex court in the judgment delivered by Justice Mary Odili, held that it was clear that the appellant engaged in abuse of judicial process.

    According to Odili, the subject matter of the suit is not justiciable because it bothers on the internal matters of a political party.

    Justice Odili said that the appellant engaged in forum shopping by taking a matter which emanated from Anambra all the way to a court in Jigawa.

    The panel of justices also berated lawyers to the appellant for engaging in unethical conduct by filing such a suit in the first place.

    The justices also berated the judge of the Jigawa High Court for accepting to hear the suit that was outside his jurisdiction saying that he engaged in judicial misconduct.

    The panel thereby awarded a fine of N1 million against the appellant for abuse of court process.

    Meanwhile, the panel held that the application for joinder by Chief Edozie Njoku was irrelevant since it had been overtaken by events and consequently dismissed it.

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had in September ordered Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize Prof. Charles Soludo as candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA) in the Nov. 6 Anambra governorship elections.

    The three member panel of justices headed by President of the Appeal Court, Justice Monica Dongban -Mensem had also declared Victor Oye as National Chairman of APGA.

    Justice Jummai Sankey while delivering ruling on the appeal filed against Sylvester Ezeokenwa and five others, held in a unanimous decision that the appeal constituted an abuse of court process, having been bound by the decision of the Kano division of Court of Appeal that affirmed Oye as APGA national chairman.

    The panel said it lacked jurisdiction to do what the appeal by Mr Edozie Njoku and Chinedu Okoro was seeking as it could not sit on appeal on its previous decision.

    The sum of N10million was awarded against the appellants, in favour of Sylvester Ezeokenwa and APGA who were the first and second respondents in the appeal.

  • ‘It was long expected’, APGA reacts to Gov Obiano’s deputy’s defection to APC weeks to Anambra governorship poll

    ‘It was long expected’, APGA reacts to Gov Obiano’s deputy’s defection to APC weeks to Anambra governorship poll

    The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has reacted to the defection of the Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dr Nkem Okeke, to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that Okeke was led to meet President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday (yesterday) by the Governor of Yobe State and Caretaker Committee chairman of the APC, Mai Muni Buni in company of the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma.

    However, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, APGA National Publicity Secretary, Tex Okechukwu, said the action of the deputy governor has no consequence of the party ahead of the November 6 governorship election in the state.

    He added that the defection was long expected since Okeke had been grudging everyone over his inability to secure the party’s governorship ticket.

    “The deputy governor had thought that the governor (Willie Obiano) and the party were going to hand over the governorship ticket of the party in the last primary to him on a platter,” said Okechukwu.

    “When that didn’t happen, he started behaving abnormally, even to the point of insubordination and dereliction of duties.”

    Okechukwu, however, stated that APGA viewed the exit of the deputy governor, without formal notification to the party or his principal, as uncalled for, ill-timed, and ill-advised as the governor had always treated him with respect, love, and consideration.

    According to him, the party condemns the desperation being exhibited by the opposition APC in the build-up to the governorship election.

    The APGA spokesman also called on all members of the party to remain united to ensure that they win the election with wider margins.

    “Let nobody be deceived – APC has no root anywhere in Anambra State and that is why all that they do is going about luring political deadwood with money and other lucres,” Okechuchwu added.

    “No matter the designs of the opposition and other subterranean forces, APGA Is poised to win the forthcoming election and continue with the massive infrastructural development going on in the state.”

  • BREAKING: Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Okeke joins APC

    BREAKING: Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Okeke joins APC

    Dr. Nkem Okeke, Deputy to the Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano has dumped the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Dr. Okeke joined the APC on Wednesday and was received by President Muhammadu Buhari at a brief ceremony that was held at the State House, Abuja.

    Okeke has been the Deputy Governor of Anambra State since 17 March 2014.

    Okeke was led to the President by the APC Caretaker Committee Chairman and Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma.

    Governor Uzodinma, who presented the new APC member to the President, briefed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting.

    In the build up to the November 6 Anambra governorship election, there have been a series of high-profile defections from APGA and PDP to APC.

    Anambra APC has moved from having zero lawmakers at the state and federal legislature to having the highest number of lawmakers at the federal level.

    Although, it is still unclear if APC has gained the majority in Anambra State House of Assembly.

    Meanwhile, in a swift reaction, candidate of the APC for the election, Sen. Andy Uba has welcomed Okeke into the party fold.

    In a statement shared via his verified Facebook page, Uba states thus: “We welcome the current Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dr Nkem Okeke (Ugogbuzuo Enugwu Ukwu na Umunri) to our great party, APC.

    “My aspiration to govern Anambra State is anchored on public interests. We will not disappoint ndi Anambra. “We are setting New Development Agenda for Our State”.

  • Why I shunned APGA guber campaign flag-off at Awka – Bianca Ojukwu

    Why I shunned APGA guber campaign flag-off at Awka – Bianca Ojukwu

    Mrs Bianca Ojukwu said in Awka on Sunday that she shunned Saturday’s flag-off of APGA governorship campaign to protest “post-mortem disrespect’’ to her deceased husband.

    She laid the blame of the “post-mortem disrespect’’ to Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu on the doorstep of APGA’s leadership.

    Prof. Chukwuma Soludo and Dr Ifeanyi Ibezim, APGA’s governorship and deputy governorship candidates, respectively, kick-started their 2021 campaign at on Saturday.

    Bianca was conspicuously absent at the event unlike previous mega political activities held by APGA, a party that branded late Ojukwu as the spiritual leader of the party.

    Another obvious sign which made some political observers note that there was serious crack in the party was the removal of Ojukwu’s image on the customised uniform of APGA worn by people at the event.

    Some party faithful, however, wore the old uniform bearing the image of the Eze Igbo Gburugburu, Dim Ojukwu, to the event.

    Bianca described as an affront, the treatments to her late husband by the present leadership of APGA.

    “It is an irony that today Gov. Willie Obiano has resuscitated Dim Ojukwu’s pictures for use in campaigning for the upcoming elections in Anambra.

    “This is the height of opportunism and hypocrisy. Is Ojukwu not the same man Obiano once described as a dead man who was no longer relevant to the party?

    “Why should I permit him to keep trampling on the legacy of my late husband who put his heart and soul into this party?

    “Ojukwu should not be like a light switch to be turned on for party campaign, and turned off once the election is won,’’ she said.

    The former Nigerian ambassador to Spain, expressed displeasure at the decision of APGA’s leadership to expunge her husband’s image from APGA uniform and other insignia of the party.

    “It is most unfortunate that Gov. Obiano decided to remove the picture of Ojukwu and replace same with his picture just to drive home his statement that `he would no longer tie the fate and fortunes of APGA to the memory of a dead man’, obviously in reference to my husband,’’ Bianca said.

    She listed other ill-treatments meted to her and the deceased husband and maintained that her presence at Saturday’s flag-off would have been an endorsement to the defrauding of scores of aspirants by the party during the party’s primary in the year 2018.

    “It is unfortunate that the same APGA election managers that were responsible for the disastrous 2018 party primaries which resulted in severe damage to the party’s brand were also left to handle APGA’s campaign flag-off.

    “Any political party that consistently robs its own members will not endure, APGA inclusive,’’ she noted.

    She also lamented that the report of the Sen. Victor Umeh-led Peace and Reconciliation Committee that visited her in Enugu few weeks ago which pointed the way forward for APGA, had been discarded by the governor and the party leadership.

    Bianca, however, indicated that she remained hopeful that in spite of APGA’s current travails that the party has a fair chance of producing the next governor of the state.

    She described the party as presently constituted as a field of ‘sorrow’ for so many walking wounded…from aggrieved aspirants, party members at the grassroots, as well as party stakeholders.

    Reacting to Bianca’s charges, Mr C-Don Adinuba, Director Media, Soludo Governorship Campaign Organisation, said that the omission of Ojukwu’s image on APGA uniform was not a ploy to insult late Ojukwu and his family.

    “It was a mistake by the person who handled the recent uniform the party printed,’’ he said.

    Adinuba who is also Anambra Commissioner for Information said he was confident that Bianca had nothing against Prof. Soludo as APGA’s candidate.

    “I am sure that in the next couple of days Bianca will join the campaign tour of Prof. Soludo,’’ he said.

  • Anambra : I’ll produce 1, 000 millionaires yearly if voted governor – Soludo

    Anambra : I’ll produce 1, 000 millionaires yearly if voted governor – Soludo

    Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra, says he will produce one thousand millionaires yearly if elected.

    He made the pledge at the official flag off of his campaign in Awka on Saturday, ahead of the Anambra Nov. 6 governorship election.

    Soludo, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) used the event to formally present his manifesto.

    The official flag off of Soludo’s campaign, was coming barely 41 days to the election, and is the first official flag off by any of the 18 political parties fielding candidates for the election.

    Soludo said the manifesto was a well-thought-out document and had all in it for all round transformation of Anambra.

    “If I am elected the next governor, my administration will produce one thousand youth millionaires every year. By the grace of God, the next APGA government will ensure that 130, 000 jobs are created yearly in Anambra,” he promised.

    Soludo, flanked by his running mate, Dr Ifeanyi Ibezim, said his vision was to ensure that any child born in Anambra would not leave the state in search of greener pastures elsewhere.

    Gov. Willie Obiano who also spoke, said he was proud to have Soludo as his potential successor, adding that the former CBN governor had the pedigree and contact to drive Anambra to the next level.

    Obiano who listed the signature projects he did to include the Anambra Airport, 12, 000 seating capacity International Conference Centre and Awka Stadium, said he was convinced that Soludo would do better than him.

    “The former APGA government before me did well, my government performed better and I hope if elected, Soludo will be best,” he said.

    Obiano said, with Soludo, APGA would have landslide victory at the poll.

  • Anambra guber: Soludo formally presented as APGA candidate as party kickstarts campaign

    Anambra guber: Soludo formally presented as APGA candidate as party kickstarts campaign

    The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has flagged off its campaign for the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra State.

    This comes six weeks to the date announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the poll across the local government areas of the state.

    Party faithful, in hundreds, thronged the Alex Ekwueme Square in Awka, the state capital on Saturday where a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Chukwuma Soludo, was formally presented as the candidate of APGA in the November 6 election.

    His emergence as the party’s flagbearer in the poll followed a series of disagreements – that led to court cases – among party leaders over the choice of candidate for the poll.

    Incumbent governor, Willie Obiano, who has served the state on two terms, was physically present at the event, along with his wife, Mrs Ebele.

    The couple, Soludo, and APGA National Chairman, Victor Oye, among other party leaders, took turns to address the crowd of party supporters at the event.

    Upon taking the stage, Oye who was the first of the aforementioned four to speak reeled out the achievements of the party over the years.

    “APGA has performed in Anambra State,” he said. “Our records in Anambra State are impeccable; our records in Anambra State, nobody can erase it. Our governor, Willie Obiano, has performed creditably and the incoming governor (in his view), Chukwuma Soludo, will perform superlatively.

    “There is no political party in Nigeria that has the capacity to turn around the lives of the people as much as APGA has done.”

    Oye also took a swipe at the two frontline political parties in the country – All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying, “Very soon, both of them will go into an irreversible coma, and APGA will become the ultimate undertakers.”

    In her remarks, Mrs Obiano whose had a majority of her speech delivered in Igbo canvassed support for the party.

    According to her, it is important for the people to vote for the party’s candidate in the coming election in order to continue to enjoy the dividends of democracy in the state.

    Thereafter, Soludo was presented the party’s flag – symbolising his status as the party’s candidate – by Governor Obiano and Mr Oye.

    He began his acceptance speech with a song titled ‘Who Can Battle With The Lord?’ after which he thanked the party leaders and members for their support all through the events that led to his emergence as the party’s candidate.

    “With a deep sense of humility and gratitude to Almighty, gratitude to our lovely party that gave me the opportunity to be able to fly this flag, we accept to fly this flag,” the party’s candidate said. “By the special grace of God, the will and wish of the people have been expressed.

    “There are 32 support and self-funding groups with a membership of over 500,000 across Anambra, Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, everywhere, that have worked tirelessly for over two years.

    “The next thing that should happen in Anambra will be to consolidate the wonderful works that are ongoing, especially under the 16 years of APGA in Anambra State.”

    Governor Obiano, in his remarks, explained why he believes his party will win again in the forthcoming election.

    “In the last 15 and half years, we have delivered the dividend of democracy to Anambra residents, and particularly in the last seven and half years,” he said. “That is why our candidate will win, and win landslide.

    “So many things have been said about my achievements which most of you know but let me show some examples. The international cargo and passenger airport in Anambra that I built in 15 months, the runway is the second-longest in Nigeria. It has the tallest tower in Nigeria and the most modern terminal building, and I built this airport without borrowing a kobo.”