The battle for the soul of Anambra State in the forthcoming governorship election has further torn the remaining faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
A faction loyal to Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State had pitched tents with the newly registered All Progressive Congress, APC, while the other faction refused to merge.
But within the APGA, the two factional chairmen, Maxi Okwu and Victor Umeh, are now daggers-drawn over which of the factions should produce the next governor of Anambra state.
To this end, Okwu has sued Umeh, the party’s National Secretary, Sani Shinkafi and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before a Federal High Court in Abuja. Okwu wants the court to recognise him and his executive as the authentic leadership of the party.
He further demanded that his executive be given the opportunity to nominate a candidate of the party for the governorship election in the state.
Okwu and four others, in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/563/2013 and dated 18 August and filed by their counsel, Oba Maduabuchi, they argued that there was no congress that produced Umeh and the executive members of the National Working Committee. They claimed that the executive members were elected by voice vote saying this was against Article 18(4) of the party constitution.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to help determine whether the 2nd defendant (Shinkafi) can still validly occupy the position of National Secretary of APGA in 2013 when the constitution of the party provide a maximum tenure of eight years and he was first elected as National Secretary of the party on 10th January 2003, ten years ago.
They demanded that the court should disqualify Umeh and his executive members in accordance with Article 18(4) of the party and that INEC should begin to recognise and deal with the Okwu faction.
The duo had at different times been recognised as chairmen of the crisis-ridden party by the courts. Not long ago, a Court of Appeal favored Umeh as the chairman just as INEC has also declared him as the duly recognized chairman of the party.
