Okorie vs Umeh
APGA has experienced various crises since its inception in June 25, 2002, resulting in a prolonged court battle between the founder, Chekwas Okorie and the incumbent embattled National Chairman of the party, Victor Umeh. The litany of court cases started when the party, supported by Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State expelled Okorie on grounds of financial misappropriation and anti party activities. Okorie went to court to challenge his expulsion and for many years, the country witnessed one of the fiercest and prolonged court battles in the history of political parties in Nigeria. From the High Court to the Court of Appeal, to the Supreme Court, the case dragged on until the Supreme Court declared Umeh the authentic chairman of the party and maintained that Okorie remained expelled. That battle came to an end when Okorie handed over the documents of the registration of the party to Umeh.
The crises continues
When political observers thought peace had returned to APGA which is presently controlling two states in the South east, the party started experiencing a fresh round of crises. This time it is between Governor Obi and Umeh. Initially, there were indications that all was not well with the duo. But when asked by newsmen, they kept insisting that all was well and in fact, that the relationship between both of them was rosy.
Things however came to a head when Umeh started complaining about the refusal of the governor to conduct local government elections. According to him, “The wrong thing I did was to tell the governor to conduct Local Government elections so that our party people would be empowered at the grassroots. I fell out with him in March 2010 shortly after he was sworn in and he sent people to tell me that he wanted to put caretaker committees in the local governments. I said no, that it was a breach of an agreement between me and him and Ojukwu. That if we campaign for him and he wins the election, he will conduct local government election immediately so that APGA people will get involved in governance so that the party will settle down at the grassroots. As soon as he won that election, he wanted to change it, I disagreed with him. We had that problem for two months until Ojukwu resolved it and he agreed there will be local government election.”
Besides the issue of the Local Government elections, Umeh also complained that the governor was not releasing sufficient funds for the smooth running of the party and said that because of that, a lot of party members were not empowered. But the Special Adviser on Parks and Markets, Sylvester Nwobu-Alor refuted this. He told Daily Sun that the governor cannot conduct local government elections because the case brought up by the local government chairmen against the state government is still pending in court. On the issue of the non funding of the party, Nwobu-Alor said it was unfair for Umeh to accuse the governor of not funding the party as the governor gives the party N20 million every month to ensure the party activities are run smoothly.
At this point, it became obvious that the party was no longer cohesive and Umeh who used to have a rosy relationship with Governor Obi, found a new ally in Okorocha of Imo State. He was seen at every function organized by the government of Imo State and did not spare any moment in singing Okorocha’s praises. Thus, with Umeh and Okorocha on one side, and Governor Obi on the other, the tussle for the control of the party became even more intense. After the passing away of the party leader, Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, his widow, Bianca Ojukwu pitched her tent with Obi and did not spare any moment in telling Umeh to submit to the authority of Obi. During a stakeholders meeting of party members at the late Ojukwu’s Enugu residence, Bianca was reported to have told Umeh not to scatter the party or else he would be made ‘a general without an army.”
Okorocha’s angle
No sooner than Umeh and Okorocha became buddies that things started falling apart. Okorocha, to the consternation of other party members, publicly declared support for the merger of opposition political parties which would emerge as the All Progressives Congress (APC). Already, there are speculations that he may soon be expelled from the party for anti party activities. In his reaction, Nwobu-Alor who is also an uncle to Obi told Daily Sun that Governor Okorocha can leave if he wants, and maintained that his departure would not affect the fortunes of the party.
The party on its own declared its stance in a statement, signed by Former Minister for Health and member of the party’s Board of Trustees, Dr Tim Menakaya. He said, “The party’s attention had been drawn to a press conference by a group of Governors, including Owelle Rochas Okorocha of Imo State after meeting in Lagos endorsing a ‘merger of some opposition parties in Nigeria’ While we are not against the establishment of a mega opposition party, we believe that the issue of merger of political parties is a very serious matter that needs adequate consultations before a Governor participates and makes public statement. We wish to state after due consultations with most party members, including Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and other party stakeholders, that the party wish to state that we were never invited, consulted or informed about any political parties merger.”
As the crises in the party further deepened, Umeh’s faction appointed the late Ojukwu’s son, Chukwuemeka Ojukwu jnr as a member of the Board of Trustees. Ojukwu later told newsmen that the cause of the crises in the party was because Governor Obi wanted to impose a candidate on the party. This revelation further laid credence to the speculations that Umeh was in support of Ifeanyi Ubah, the Chief Executive Officer of Capital Oil who has publicly declared his intention to run for the governorship election in Anambra State, while Obi is rumored to favour someone else. This conflict of interest, according to insiders is the underlying reason Umeh and Obi have been engaged in a battle to control the party and by extension, the South east.
The crises came to a crescendo when the Federal High Court sitting in Enugu ousted Umeh as the National Chairman . The party, led by Obi went ahead and conducted a convention where Maxi Okwu was elected Chairman. However, Umeh filed a suit asking for a stay of execution at the Court of Appeal which was granted. This victory may give Umeh a further grip of the party with the support of people like Senator Annie Okonkwo, Ifeanyi Uba and a few other state chairmen in the South East.
But Obi seems to have a stronger hold in the party as those who support him include Ambassador Frank Nchita Ogbuewu, the 2011 APGA Governorship Candidate in Ebonyi State, Former Minister of Culture and Tourism and 2011 APGA Governorship Candidate in Abia State, Chief Reagam Ufomba and 2011 APGA Governorship Candidate in Enugu State, Obiora Obiegue. The support of these people further strengthens Obi’s grip of the party since according to APGA”s constitution, the governorship candidate and governor in each state should be regarded as the leader of the party in the state.
Other APGA political office holders who are on his side are Senator Chris Anyanwu, representing Imo Central, Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu, Nigerian Ambassador to Spain, Eddie Mbadiwe- APGA Leader, House of Representatives (Imo State), Chris Azubogu , Emeke Nwogbo and Victor Ogene, members of the House of Representatives, Chief Chris Uche, Deputy National Chairman, South-east, Odi Nwosu, Nigerian Ambassador to Burundi, Prof. Dora Akunyili , 2011 APGA Senatorial Candidate, Anambra State, and Former Minister of Information and Communications, Menakaya and Chuma Nzeribe, Former House of Representatives member.
With the saying that ‘when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers’, political observers are pessimistic about the survival of the party as many believe that the squabbles may affect the party’s fortunes.
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