By Emmanuel Mogbede (Abuja)/ Uchenna Ugwu (Abakaliki)

Nov. 18, 2020

The Gov. Mai Mala Buni-led All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) has dissolved the party’s Ebonyi State Working Committee.

This is as the Ebonyi State Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Onyekachi Nwebonyi, said that the party’s exco in the state is still active and will not be dissolved till the next four years.

APC’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yekini Nabena, announced the dissolution of the Ebony state executive of the APC in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

He explained that the dissolution of the committee followed the refusal of factions of the party to withdraw court cases as directed by the 8th meeting of the APC National Executive Committee (NEC).

He added that the factions had also refused to submit to internal party resolution mechanisms initiated by the party’s caretaker committee.

“A 15-member caretaker committee has subsequently been appointed by the APC CECPC to manage the party’s affairs and carry out its membership registration, update, and revalidation exercise in Ebonyi,” he said.

He added that Mr Stanley Okoro would serve as chairman of the Ebonyi APC caretaker committee while John Nwankata would serve as its Vice Chairman (North) and Peter Ndubuisi as Vice Chairman (Central).

Other members of the committee according to Nabena are: Ozoemena Njoku, Vice Chairman (South), Charles Ofoke Secretary and Ogbonnaya Igboke, Organising Secretary.

He said other members of the committee are: Ade Ogbuatu, Publicity Secretary, Ikaa Ukeni, Legal Adviser, Paulinus Ali, Treasurer and Joseph Ozibo, Financial Secretary.

Nabena added that Ogochukwu Elem would serve as Youth Leader of the committee, Odo Juliet, Women Leader and Ogbonna Nshii as its Auditor.

The APC spokesman further added that Adum Basil would be in charge of the physically challenged in the committee while Francis Nweze would serve as its welfare secretary.

Nabena stressed that the Buni-led APC CECPC was determined to reposition the party.

He, therefore, urged the party’s supporters, members and leaders in Ebonyi and its other state chapters to support and work toward the achievement of the peace and reconciliation mandate of the APC CECPC.

Reacting to the announcement of the dissolution of the PDP executives at the ward, local government, state and South East zone by the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) Tuesday, Nwebonyi noted that his emergence as state party chairman was through election for a four-year term and not by appointment by the National body of the party.

He made the remark on Wednesday in a release, noting that Gov. David Umahi’s defection to the  APC could not be the reason for dissolving the party’s executive in Ebonyi.

“We are in charge of the party in the state for the next four years having been duly elected for a four-year term and our tenure will elapse in 2024 and nobody has the power to dissolve the state executives.

“The action of the national working committee of the PDP in dissolving the ward, local government, and the state executive committees of the party in the state is laughable because the governor and few individual want to leave the party.

“We were duly elected in line with the party’s constitution and any action on the state executives must conform with the provisions of the PDP constitution,” he said.

Nwebonyi explained that some members of the party made efforts to stop the governor’s defection but that was not successful.