MacDonald Ebere remains Imo APC Chairman- Uzodimma

Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has dismissed any fear that may arise from the Supreme Court judgement that said Daniel Nwafor and not Chief Marcellinus Nlemigbo, was the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State based on the suit instituted against Nlemigbo’s leadership by Nwafor years back.

The Governor said if anything, the law was rather on the side of the Imo APC currently under the Chairmanship of MacDonald Ebere going by the ruling, hence there should be no cause for alarm.

Governor Uzodimma who spoke to newsmen Friday in Owerri urged APC faithful to go about their party activities with confident that the MacDonald Ebere leadership or tenure is standing on a firm ground and legally protected based on the Party’s rules.

Governor Uzodimma said: “The period under discussion has expired. The National Convention  has since conducted fresh congresses.”The current exco, none of them is party to the case.

“They were duly elected, confirmed and ratified by the National Convention.

“The National Convention  is the highest organ of the party. Whatever they decided is the final.

“Whatever that is done by the convention is final as decided by the Supreme Court in Ahmed Markarfi and Ali Modu Sheriff case.

“I did not hear the Supreme Court give any consequential instructions. All they did was to dismiss an appeal.

“So MacDonald Ebere and his exco remain the authentic executive of APC in Imo State.

“However, assuming but not conceding to the fact of the ruling, if anything happens and there is a change of the state executive, the primaries and congresses are being conducted by the national leadership of our party.

“The state executive does not conduct primaries, nor do they conduct congresses. You can see that the electoral panel that are working in Imo State, the members came from Abuja.”

The Governor who said there is nothing to worry about on the judgment, noted that there is no judgment of the Supreme Court that has affirmed Nwafor as the Chairman of APC in Imo State to which he is the leader.

His words: “What the Supreme Court did was to dismiss an appeal against an FCT High Court judgment that recognized Dan Nwafor as the Chairman against Chief Marcellus Nlemigbo.”

Governor Uzodimma further pointed out that the period under discussion had since expired and that neither Marcellus Nlemigbo nor Dan Nwafor is the Chairman of the party in Imo State currently because the National Convention of APC has since conducted fresh congresses.

“Because the period we are talking about, their tenure has expired, there is nothing there again for anybody to benefit from.”

He reiterated that none of the current APC executive is a party to the case and that the current Exco members were duly elected, confirmed and ratified by a convention.

The Governor emphasized that the party convention is the highest organ of the Party and whatever they say is the final which is the position of the Supreme Court in the case of Makarafi and Sherrif. 

He reiterated that he didn’t hear Supreme Court give any consequential instructions, saying “all they did was to dismiss an appeal on the judgment of the FCT High Court.”

Governor Uzodimma also brought to the fore the fact that the primaries and congresses are being conducted by the National leadership of the party, as  State Excos of political parties don’t conduct primaries nor do they conduct congresses.

“The electoral panels that are currently working in Imo State, all came from Abuja. As long as Adamu Abudulahi and Senator Omisire remain the chairman and the secretary respectively of the Party, the primaries currently ongoing in Imo State remain legitimate.”

On Dan Nwafor and his group attempting to forcefully gain access to the Party office in Owerri, the Governor replied: “That will be total illegality and the law will take its cause.”

Adding his voice, the former APC National Organizing Secretary and Senator that represented Imo West in the National Assembly, Senator Osita Izunaso said “there is no danger for the party in Imo State because the tenure they are talking about by all standards has elapsed.”

He recalled that in the last two years the party dissolved all elected structures from the National, States, LGAs and Ward levels and followed it up by a National Convention that produced brand-new executive in all the states of the federation including Imo State.

Izunaso reaffirmed that primaries and congresses are conducted by the National body of the Party as is exemplified in the current primaries in the State being conducted by the National Working Committee of the APC in collaboration with INEC as observers.

He urged the APC Exco and members in the State not to lose sleep over the matter.