The Imo state chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has officially released a statement to show their stand on the attempt by the suspended elected Council officials to return to work on Monday, 6th January.
Read the full statement below.
The Imo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress is saddened by recent developments in our dear State, where the present governor and his agents have shown a most disturbing and ridiculous disdain for the rule of law, democracy and decency, by among other things;
a) Resisting the long overdue resumption of duty by legitimately elected LGA officials across the 27 LGAs of the State.
b) Engaging the services of hooligans from outside the State to unleash mayhem on ordinary Imolites for insisting on respect for rule of law and democracy.
c) Retaining illegally appointed usurpers across the 27 LGA headquarters and using State power to intimidate, harass and stampede law abiding Imolites, especially, members of the All Progressives Congress in the State. This action is responsible for the unfortunate and avoidable death of Hon. Ahamefula Mmaduabuchi, a supervisory councillor in Isu LGA of the State.
d) Allegedly paying the sum of 50 Million Naira to some moles who impersonate as officials of our great Party to sabotage the legitimate struggles of our Party members.
Following the above, the Party wishes to state as follows;
1. That the LGA elections which held in Imo State on the 25th of August, 2018 was held in line with extant provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Severally Amended) and the Imo State Local Government Administration Law 15, 2000 ( As Amended).
2. That this election and all the processes preceding it are in tandem with democratic norms, free, fair and transparent.
3. That there were no legal or political impediments to the conduct of that election, and there has not been any Court order dissolving or suspending these duly elected LGA officials.
4. That the Supreme Court had reaffirmed the independence of this third tier of government in a case that was brought before it by some illegally sacked LGA officials in Ekiti State. It is important to elucidate further here, that a Supreme Court judgement on issue of Constitutionality is binding on all Nigerians and officials of government, as Supreme Court judgements are laws. Therefore, the argument that this referenced Supreme Court judgement only affects Ekiti State government, is not only illogical, but also exposes a dangerous level of ignorance among the present operators of governance in Imo State and their consultants.
5. That the elected 27 chairpersons of the various LGAs and 640 out of 645 councillors are bonafide members of the All Progressives Congress and they have the complete support of all the Party organs in the State and at the Federal level.
6. That the Party condemns in clear terms the assassination of one of our members, Hon. Ahamefula Mmaduabuchi, who until his gruesome slaying by suspected PDP thugs was a supervisory councillor in Isu LGA of the State.
7. That we call on all heads of security agencies in the State to fish out the killers of Hon. Ahamefula Mmaduabuchi and all sponsors of violence against our law-abiding Party members in the State.
8. That the Party supports the move by these elected council officials to resume their duty posts, as soon as possible, as we view the action of the governor and the People’s Democratic Party against these elected officials as a coup d’etat.
9. That the press, officials of government at different levels and the general public should ignore any statement from Chief Marcon Nlemigbo, Barrister Enyinnaya Onuegbu and their co-travelers, as they do not speak for the All Progressives Congress, but are agents of destabilization hired and retained by the PDP to cause confusion within our Party.
10. That any action taken by the so-called Interim Management Committee or any of their appendages is null, void and of no effect.
Signed,
Onwuasoanya FCC Jones
State Publicity Secretary,
APC, Imo State.
7th January, 2020.
