APC Convention C’ttee Secretary Resigns, Ndoma-Egba Takes Over
The Secretary of the 2018 All Progressives Congress (APC) National Convention Committee (NCC), Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu, yesterday announced his resignation.
His replacement with Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba was subsequently announced by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, in a tweet on @ OfficialAPCNg. “ANNOUNCEMENT: The Secretary of @OfficialAPCNg National Convention Planning Committee, Sen. Ben Uwajumogu has resigned the position for personal reasons. He has been replaced by Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba. - @ BolajiAbdullahi”, the tweet read.
There were reports that the former scribe was sacrificed to assuage the feelings of some persons in his home state. It was alleged that Governor Rochas Okorocha had threatened to leave APC if Uwajumogu, “who worked with those that took the party structure from him” was not relieved of the task.
A statement issued by the Principal Secretary to the Senator, Godson Amadikwa, said the resignation was aimed at calming fraying nerves and advancing the progress of APC in Imo State.
The statement revealed that the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, had accepted his resignation and wished him well in his legislative duties.
Addressing journalists yesterday at the NCC secretariat, Sen. Uwajumogu, however, said that he resigned for personal reasons. He said the new date fixed for the national convention coincided with the graduation of his two children.
He also said that his exit would not threaten the convention, stressing that the committee had concluded virtually all arrangements despite receiving only N13 million so far for its activities.
He said the resignation would clear him of all allegations levelled against him.
On Okorocha, he said, “for me, my relationship with him is not a personal thing. All of us in Imo State are opposed to the way government in Imo State is being run. Our opposition to that is something that is based on principle; based on the fact that 95 per cent of Imo citizens and indeed south easterners are not happy with what is happening in Imo State. Southeast citizens are ashamed that the only state we, APC, have in the region is being run the way it is and for me, I did not have a choice than to detach myself from that government.
“As a matter of fact, I am happy now that I have resigned. I am aware that the governor is supporting some south east citizens to run for offices zoned to the region and so now that I have resigned, nobody will accuse me of manipulating the process.
“Now that I have resigned, I can only hope that my governor, Rochas Okorocha, will spend more time in Imo State attending to the various issues that he has created for himself because in the last two weeks, he has been here in Abuja running around for the Convention and trying to put only people that are favourable to his policies.
“Okorocha has always threatened to leave the party if the Congresses were not reversed. I hear he has threatened to leave if my position was not taken….This started more than two weeks ago and it is just a coincidence because I had made up my mind to leave. I am just hoping that now that I have left, he will return to Owerri.
“It is very clear today, that this is no longer an Imo issue but a south east issue. It is very clear now that the entire south east has lost confidence in the leadership of Rochas Anayo Okorocha and all we are saying is that Nigerians should take note that we no longer have him as our leader. “My appointment was by the NWC and nobody has asked me to leave this position. The NWC met yesterday (Friday) and there was nowhere in their meeting where I was asked to resign. It is a decision I made by myself. However, in any decision you take, there must be political consequences.” Sen Uwajumogu, who spoke on the composition of NCC subcommittees, said six nominees of the NWC whose names were missing from the committee’s list had been re-absorbed. He confirmed the receipt of some nominees from the presidency contrary to presidential spokesman’s denial of reports that the presidency tinkered with the membership of the committee.
He said, “we have a total of about 20 members for each committee and the committees are 12. That makes it 240 members. In that regard, the NWC sent about 108 people to the committee. We got nominations from different groups. The Buhari Support Organization, the Buhari Campaign Organization, the wife of the president and various interest groups in the APC including diaspora organizations and of course, there is no way I will be a member and the Secretary of the national convention and I will not have nominees in the Convention. I brought about 18 members of my own which was granted to me and approved by the national convention chairman. Some of my nominees are Yorubas, northerners and Igbos”.