APGA gets splinter group in Imo

A former Governor of Imo State, Dr Ikedi Ohakim and 13 other governorship aspirants in Imo state yesterday shut down Owerri, the State capital after it formed a splinter group to pull down governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the State, Senator Ifeanyi Ararume.

The aspirants were in protest over the alleged imposition of Senator Ararume even as they protested with thousands of their supporters and members of APGA in the State. The splinter group is called the New-APGA .

Apart from Ohakim; Senator Bright Nwanne; Mr Frank Nneji; Dr Sam Amadi; Hon Uche Onyeagocha; and Barrister Humphrey Anumudu also protested .

Other aspirants are Mr Ike C. Ibe; Chief Charles Onyeagbako; Mr Chike Nsofor; Dr Obi Njoku; Barrister Philip Ibekwe; Chief Ziggy Azike; Mr Nick Opara-Ndudu; Stanley Amuchie; and Chief Okey Eze.

Tens of party stalwarts had addressed the mammoth crowd at the meeting venue yesterday wherein they lambasted the party’s national and state working committees for allegedly fleecing Imo people of their hard earned resources.

Part of their resolution were the lack of confidence and immediate removal of the party’s national and state working committees, led by Chief Victor Oye and Eze Obi respectively.

Further, they declared that all the people presented as flagbearers of the party at the different levels are rejected because the party is yet to conduct primaries, including the alleged gubernatorial candidate, purported to be Senator Ifeanyi Ararume.

In their communiqué read out, the gubernatorial aspirants lamented that despite the many assurances of the party’s national and state working committees, that primaries will be credible, the party has failed to live up to its claims.

“All of us invested our experience, spirit, and hope on APGA. We fought for it, we rebuilt the brand. We spent our fortune to make APGA the party in Igbo land in 2019 and realise the vision of ‘Nkea by nke’anyi’. We believed that the way forward for APGA would have been by transparent and credible primaries. Today, Governor Obiano, Oye and a few others, sat together and decided to spite the entire members of the party and bargain away the life of APGA”, their communique read.

Thereafter, they unveiled a new banner which they marched about within Owerri metropolis to show Imo people.

None of the party officials was in attendance at the over jam packed venue yesterday.