Majority members of the Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and the State Working Committee, have resolved to sack the State Chairman, Augustine Ehiemere, over alleged gross misconduct.
The party passed a vote of no confidence on Mr Ehiemere, for alleged abuse of office and breach of the constitution of the party, by purportedly rendering a total of 10 million Naira without the State Working Committee (SWC) seeing a copy of the said account.
The secretary of the party, Sunday Onukwubiri, while speaking to Channels Television in Umuahia, hinted that the party has resolved that the chairman be removed immediately.
According to Mr Onukwubiri, Ehemiere violated the rules of the APGA by hijacking the national party guidelines for the conduct of party primaries, which states that party primaries shall be conducted by the congress returning party chairmen, in all the local government areas of the state.
While calling on the national leadership to instruct the financial secretary of the party to render an account of the sale of the nomination forms, Elder Onukwubiri said that the embattled chairman had ridiculed the party and brought its image into disrepute therefore, “he must face the consequences and step down, pending the hearing and determination of the allegations”.
“You cannot make impunity a culture, in as much as APGA is talking about change, especially attitudinal change, it is this attitudinal change that has eluded the chairmanship status in our party.
“Can you believe that a single person can make an account of 10 million Naira without the involvement of the SWC? We finished our primaries, both counsellorship and chairmanship, and there were petitions and reports.
“From the end of the primaries till when the lists were submitted to Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC), we have never been able to sit on the petitions, and what is the implications, if those people accuse you of being partisan? how would you exonerate yourself?
“On the last day that we were expected to submit the list of the successful candidates to ABSIEC, the chairman, the financial and organizing secretary, disappeared from the office, it was on information that we gathered that they were at a hotel in Umuahia writing names of people.
“That is why we said, No! Enough is enough, we have passed a vote of no confidence on the state chairman, and it has no effect on the party movement and nomenclature,” the Abia APGA secretary said.
He, however, assured the members that the suspension of the state chairman would not affect the Local government election, as the party is ready to take the seat in the 17 local government areas of Abia State.