Benue State governor, Hyacinth Alia, has approved the appointment of Benjamin Omakolo as the acting chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
But the party’s publicity secretary, Daniel Ihomun, on Thursday vowed that members would resist any attempt to cause disunity in the party while describing the appointment of Omakolo as “another failed attempt to undermine the party’s leadership and constitution by anti-democratic agents bent on causing confusion within the ranks of the APC in the state.”
Omakolo, who hitherto served as the party’s Welfare Secretary, was appointed as acting state chairman on Wednesday night when the governor held a meeting with some members of the party’s State Executive Committee, who had visited the governor to request that the vacant position of the state chairman of the party be filled, to save it from further crisis.
Recall that the party’s chairman in the state, Austin Agada, was suspended by a faction of his Ehaje ward 1 executive committee and a court order was subsequently secured to stop him from parading himself as the party’s chairman pending the determination of a suit brought against him.
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Spokesman to Gov Alia, Tersoo Kula, in a statement, said the governor regretted the suspension of Agada, and said he had faced so much pressure from the stakeholders of the party in Zone C for the filling of the vacant position.
The governor, according to the statement, noted that to reduce the pressure on him and to also stop the party from facing further troubles, he was left with no choice but to direct Benjamin Omakolo, the Welfare Secretary of the party in the state, to step in as the acting party chairman, pending the outcome of the court case instituted against Agada.
But the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Daniel Ihomun, while reacting to the development, said Omakolo had earlier been suspended as a member of the State Executive Council, and as such his inauguration by Governor Alia as acting chairman of the party in the state “has no bearing whatsoever in the constitution and precedence of the party and is therefore of no effect whatsoever on the party.
“Members of the APC at all levels and indeed the people of Benue State are to totally disregard this comedy and its actors.”
He recalled that the party’s national secretariat had since restored the status of “Agada as a member and state chairman of the APC in Benue State and all well-meaning members of the party have returned to the status quo.
“The executives of our party in Ehaje Ward 1 have since unearthed the mischief that shamelessly played out, leading to reports of the purported suspension of the state chairman which has no place in the party’s constitution,” Ihomun said.
He added that the office of the governor of a state has so much power, but such powers do not include appointment or inauguration of party officials.
“We urge those working with the Governor of Benue state, Hyacinth Alia, to always guide him properly to avoid embarrassing outings, especially on issues concerning party administration.
“This desperate attempt to cause disunity, division and chaos in the party in Benue State will be resisted,” he said.
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