The Maxi Okwu-led faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, has appointed the wife of the late Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, Bianca Ojukwu as the new leader of the party
This is in line with an earlier resolution taken on March 22, 2013.
Addressing a news conference in Abuja at the end of the party’s National Executive Committee meeting, Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Stanley Chira, said that the new appointment takes immediate effect.
The party, however, frowned at the election time table released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, saying that the electoral umpire never consulted any of the political parties before announcing the dates for the 2015 general elections.
Another faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, led by Victor Umeh, had in January appointed the Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, as its National Leader and Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT).
Umeh, stated that the choice of Obi was due to his contributions towards keeping the party alive in the past 11 years, and for particularly ensuring that an APGA member succeeds him on March 17, 2014 when his tenure ends.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had sacked the National Executive of the APGA led by Mr Victor Umeh as National Chairman and Sani Shinkafi as National Secretary.
The court declared that Messrs Victor Umeh and Sani Shinkafi cannot continue to hold office as National Chairman and National Secretary in violation of the constitution of the party, which stipulates a maximum tenure of eight years.
The court also ruled that the valid national officers of the party were those led by Mr Maxi Okwu.
Lawyer to Messrs Umeh and Shinkafi, Mr Patrick Ikwueto, has filed a notice of appeal, challenging the verdict of the court on the grounds that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
