Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) representing 18 local government areas in Cross River State have called on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to take all necessary steps in line with the constitution of the party to sanction the Minister for Niger Delta, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani and his cohorts for disobeying constituted authorities and organs of the party including the NWC.
According to the stakeholders, Usani has continually defied the NWC’s decision which affirms Senator John Owan-Enoh as the duly nominated governorship flag-bearer in the state.
Instead, he went ahead to conduct an unauthorized exercise for himself and thereby declared himself unlawfully, the governorship candidate of the party in Cross River State.
Speaking on behalf of the 18 signatories to the document requesting that Usani should be sanctioned, Dr. Odigha Odigha in a press briefing at the weekend said, they “prevail on the National Leadership to sanction the Hon. Minister and his co-travellers, so as to prevent the virus in them from festering beyond our control and dimming our electoral prospect” in 2019 elections.
The stakeholders made further strong allegations against the minister saying, “we will no longer sit back and allow someone who brazenly refused to support the party at registration in 2014; someone who said this party was North-driven, someone who as APC chairman only attended only one gubernatorial campaign rally at Abi LGA out of 18 in the state and could not even stay till the end; someone who brought violence into APC system in Cross River State; someone with a baggage of uncleared indictments to sink our party in his failed inordinate ambition to become governor.”
They also accused Usani of playing a scripts in order to give the incumbent governor from PDP a chance to emerge for a second term in office in other that he could be supported in turn by 2023.
“This is clearly evidenced in Usani’s political activities, which are sponsored by Governor Ayade,” they alleged again.
They reiterated, “We request our National Chairman to show him the way out of the party to enable us market APC, the current bride of the mass of the people in Cross River State and promote Mr. President’s unassailable people oriented programmes for Nigeria.”
Dr. Odigha who was supported by all the 18 signatories to the resolution and many other members of the party including the State chairman of the party, Dr. Mathew Achigbe further decried the activities of Usani in the state chapter of the party saying:
“As we speak, Pastor Usani with his co-travellers are recalcitrantly sustaining parallel party organs across the entire state thereby undermining the authority and decision of the national Organs of our great party.
“There is no gain saying that pastor Usani U. Usani has not only shown serious disdain for the directives of the party at the highest echelon, but has also incorrigibly and unrepentantly become law on to himself.
“Without doubt, his actions are increasingly disrupting the peaceful, lawful, efficient organization and proper focusing and positioning of the party for the forthcoming general elections in the state.”
“it is further worrisome that in spite of the foregoing misdeeds, the Hon. Mister, Pastor Usani and others including Mr. Sylvester Nsa, the Cross River State Commissioner for Niger Delta Development Commission; Mr. Emmanuel Anom, Hon. Godwin Etim John, Chief Francis Ekpenyong and Charles Asim Ita would even after the dissolution of their parallel State Executive Organs by the National Working Committee on the 1st of August 2018 refuse to yield to this official pronouncement. They have continued to conduct themselves in defiance to our Party Constitution.
“As if that is not enough, they have with impunity instated series of Court actions against the party and its representatives without exhausting the internal mechanism for seeking redress as expressed in the letters of the constitution our party.”
The position statement of the stakeholders maintained that they “have no option than to address the public today on his activities with a view to requesting our National Leadership to take appropriate disciplinary measures against him and his cohorts.
They commended and appreciated the maturity sportsmanship and gallantry exhibited by other aspirants like “High Chief Edem Duke, Prof. Eyo Etim Nyong and Mr. John Upan Odey, adding, “it remains on record that their participation brought tremendous political gains to the party in Cross River State. They indeed demonstrated exemplary behaviour and will remain a study on how to stay responsible in the party during and after an intra-party contest.”
Comment here