Boycott Of Presidential Rally By APC Leaders In Enugu Vindicates Us – PDP Declares

The Enugu State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has come out to say it has been vindicated of the accusation levelled against it by the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ugochukwu Agballah.

The party, which described the APC presidential rally held on Wednesday in Enugu as a “monumental flop”, said the absence of some notable leaders of the party in the state was evidence of the crisis rocking the party in the state.

Naija News reported on Wednesday that the PDP alleged that the state APC chairman blamed it for the protest held at the APC national office in Abuja on Monday.

It was reported earlier on Tuesday that the Enugu APC was thrown into crisis over an alleged controversy surrounding the N1.3 billion fraud allegation.

This platform gathered that some aggrieved members of the party led by the Chairman of the Concerned Members of Enugu State APC, Adolphus Ude, went on a protest on Monday over the fraud allegation.

It was learnt that Ude and the other aggrieved members went to the party’s national secretariat in Abuja to protest and seek the intervention of its national officers.

The group accused the Enugu State chairman of the party, Ugochukwu Agballah and the governorship candidate, Uche Nnaji of the alleged fraud.

Evidently on Wednesday, Naija News reported that some leaders of the Enugu State chapter of the APC were absent from the party’s presidential campaign rally held at the Michael Okpara Square.

According to them, they were not fully carried along as regards preparation for the rally, hence their presence wasn’t needed.

It was learnt that part of those who were absent include the Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, former Enugu Governor, Barr. Sullivan Chime, former Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Eugene Odoh, former Secretary to the Enugu State Government, Chief Onyemuche Nnamani.

Others were the Director-General of Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, and the immediate past chairman of the Party in the State, Barr. Ben Nwoye and a presidential aide, Barr. Mrs Juliet Ibekaku.

The party leaders, including Ken Nnamani, Chime, Onyeama, and Odoh, among others told pressmen that they were still insistent on their position during the August 2022 protest meeting with the party’s national leadership that they would not work with Chief Ugchukwu Agballah, whom they described as an imposter, and called on the party leadership to “do the right thing.”

However, the Enugu PDP issued a statement by the party’s Director of Communications and Spokesperson of the Campaign Council, Barr. Nana Ogbodo to clarify this on Thursday.

Ogbodo explained that the boycott of the presidential rally by notable leaders of the party in the state has further validated its position that the crisis and recent protest against the State Chairman of the party, Chief Ugochukwu Agballah, and the governorship candidate, Chief Uche Nnaji, in Abuja, is squarely a fight between angry and deprived members and a greedy and conceited state party leadership.

The Enugu State PDP said “What else can be more humiliating than the embarrassing drama that played out live on national television on Wednesday? It is an open rebuke of a delusional leader.

“Maybe, Chief Ugochukwu Agballah will henceforth face his demons and stop blaming the PDP or our governorship candidate for every one of his self-inflicted woes.

“We have no reason to worry about the Enugu APC that is already irredeemably destroyed by Agballah. We maintain that he is a clergy without a congregation.

“Despite shamelessly bussing rented crowd from neighbouring States, Agballah could still not fill the small venue he chose for something as huge as a presidential rally.

“Agballah should, therefore, go home and make peace with his aggrieved party members and restitute whatever he has taken from them.

“We call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately commence the probe of the serious allegations of embezzlement of members’ and party funds levelled against Agballah and the governorship candidate, Chief Uche Nnaji, by well-known Enugu APC leaders.”

Agballah had since denied all the allegations against him, declaring that some members of the party were being used by the PDP to cause disunity.