Adekunle blogs

Imo APC disowns member who sued party over tenure extension for Oyegun, others

The Imo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that there is no registered member of the party in the state with the name Okere Uzochukwu.
The said Uzochukwu had dragged the ruling APC to court for elongating the tenure of the party’s chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun and other elected officials of the party both at the federal, state, local government and ward levels.
In a suit number FHC/A6J/CS/219/2018, Uzochukwu, who claimed to be a member of the party, and an aspirant for the chairmanship position in Imo APC, urged the court to annul the extension decision.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was joined as a respondent in the suit.
However, the Chief Press Secretary to the Imo State governor, Sam Onwuemeodo, in a statement on Saturday, said the Imo APC has no knowledge of any party member known as Okere Uzochukwu.
“We start our reaction by stating that Okere Uzochukwu is not a registered member of APC in Imo State. We have done our checks and could not locate such name in our official membership registers.
“It is now left for Mr. Okere Uzochukwu to mention his ward, his registration number and show his membership card. His case would also help the party to expose some untrustworthy politicians who crawled into Imo APC and have been playing their usual hide and seek game.
“The truth is that no genuine member of the party could wake up one morning and take the party and its National leadership to court without clearance from the leader of the party in the state or clearance from the state exco of the party.
“He is an impostor and does not have the support of APC members in the State in his action, especially when he is not a member of the party and since Imo APC is not against the tenure extension for John Oyegun-led NWC.
“The APC governors’ Forum, which the Imo governor chairs had pressed that the extension of tenure be made across the board in which the State, Local Government and Ward Officers of the Party would benefit from the exercise and that was done.