IMO BREAKING NEWS BLOG

Former Chief of Staff to the Imo State governor, Uche Nwosu, has described the threat handed on aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to withdraw their Court actions or face sanctions by the National Working Committee of the party as an act of arm twisting and unacceptable.

The APC NWC had threatened to invoke sanctions on all members of the party who took the party to Court over the fall out of the just concluded primaries, unless they withdraw the suits. 

But Nwosu who is the winner of the October 6 APC governorship primary in Imo State, insisted that the threat of sanction will not stop him from pursuing his case to a logical conclusion and reclaiming his mandate.

He stated that before approaching the Court over his stolen mandate as the authentic APC governorship candidate in Imo state, he had first of all made concerted efforts to have the leadership of the party resolve the crisis using internal mechanism to no avail.

He disclosed that he had written several letters to the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole with the hope of bringing him to intervene and resolve the matter at the early stage but was rebuffed.

Nwosu recounted that when he discovered through credible intelligence that Ahmed Gulak was not coming to conduct governorship primary in Imo but was assigned to deliver a certain aspirant, he raised the alarm through a letter to the National Chairman but was painfully ignored.

According to him, “it is unfortunate that the National Chairman of our party is just waking up now after causing the trouble. He had all the time to have resolved the issue before now but refused to do so. In line with the constitution of the party, I had exhausted all avenues to have my matter resolved using internal mechanism but nobody came to my aid.

“I personally wrote three different letters to the National Chairman and I have the acknowledgment but he never responded to any of the letters. My first letter was to inform that Ahmed Gulak was not coming to conduct primary election in Imo, that he was coming to impose a certain aspirant but he snubbed me, the second was to complain about how Gulak absconded to Abuja to announce fake result still he didn’t respond and the last one was to tell him not to substitute my name as the winner of the governorship primary.

“All these letters were never considered by the National Chairman who went ahead to substitute my name, he had a lot of time to resolve the issue but he did nothing and now that I am in Court, I will pursue my matter to a logical conclusion and reclaim my stolen mandate, no amount of threat will make me abandon my mandate”.

Meanwhile in one of the letters made available to journalists, Nwosu had raised concern over the appointment of Ahmed Gulak as the Chairman of the APC Primary Election Committee for the State.

The said letter read in part, “I write to appeal to you Mr. Chairman to change the person of Gulak as Chairman of the committee because of his comment/boast that he is coming to Imo state to deliver his friend Senator Hope Uzodinma as APC gubernatorial candidate”.

Nwosu argued further that the letters were abundant evidence that he had followed due process in seeking redress before approaching the Court “as the last hope of the common man”.

Nation Newspaper. 

Reports have emerged about the series of meetings and lobbying that took place at the Onitsha GRA residence of Mr Peter Obi, the VeePee candidate of the PDP in the 2019 general elections, for the immediate impeachment  of the Anambra State House of Assembly Speaker. And subsequently, Governor Wille Obiano.

It was gathered by close sources that the PDP, through former Governor Peter Obi, has concluded plans to turple the smooth flow of governance in the State. According to sources,  this move is coming on the suspicion that Governor Willie Obiano will work for the All Progressives Congress Presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, in the 2019 election.

The meeting which took place at the instance of Mr Peter Obi, targeted 15 of the incumbent State Assembly members who were unable to secure the Reelection ticket of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the just concluded primaries.

These legislators led by the Son of a former Commissioner in Peter Obi's administration, Hon Ikem Uzozie were said to have received 10million Naira each from Mr Peter Obi. The first trench of 10million was for the mobilization to impeach Rt Hon Rita Maduagwu, who is considered to be strongly in support of Governor Obiano.

The next phase of the impeachment charade was to be targeted at Governor Obiano if they had succeeded in removing Madam Speaker yesterday.

Eyewitness reports confirmed that the 15 lawmakers headed immediately to the Onitsha residence of Mr Peter Obi after their impeachment ploy was botched by members of the house loyal to the Speaker.

Further reports have it that funds have been voted by the PDP VeePee and other opposition elements to cause serious unrest in the legislative arm that will supposedly trickle down to other critical areas of the State. According to an anonymous source, the PDP is doing this to create an inroad to Anambra where it is currently expected that Mr Peter Obi may fail in 2019 if these upsets are not put in place.

The lull in political activities in Imo State occasioned by the unavoidable absence of the commander of the masses, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, has come to an abrupt end as the man of the moment made an unannounced entry into Owerri, the Imo State capital after a long stay in Abuja, the FCT.

Nwosu who won the governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress in Imo State has being exploiting all legal options to ensure that he is not robbed of his well deserved mandate by a dangerous cabal in the Party. 

His more than one month stay in Abuja had been expected to rob him of some of his supporters. However, his fanatical support base seems to be intact as a massive crowd of supporters came out to welcome him at the airport on his return.

Speaking to the mammoth crowd of anxious supporters, the real estate mogul turned politician stated that he remains a member of the All Progressives Congress, as he expects that the Party leadership will do the right thing by restoring his mandate.

Meantime, some of his supporters of the youthful governorship have expressed their disaffection with the ruling All Progressives Congress, as regards the handling of the primaries in the State. Most of his supporters urged him to quit the APC and declare for another political Party, from where they expect to give him their full support to realize his governorship ambition.

The Special Presidential Investigation Panel For Recovery of Public Property said, it on Sunday arrested the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Imo State,  Hope Uzodinma, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

Chairman of the panel, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla said in a short message sent to our correspondent on Sunday that the panel arrested Uzodinma, the senator representing Imo West Senatorial District, over the failure of his company to execute a contract of $12m for the dredging of Calabar channel.

According to the panel’s chairman, the contracted was awarded by Nigerian Ports Authority.

Obono-Obla said Uzodinma had been evading arrest for about a year but was arrested at about 8.20pm at the Abuja airport while arriving from Lagos.

The statement read, “This evening at about 8.20pm operatives of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel For Recovery of Public Property at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport arrested the APC governorship candidate in Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, while returning from an Air Peace P47324 flight from Lagos.

“The panel is investigating of economic sabotage against Senator Uzodinma arising out of the failure of his company to execute a contract of $12m for the dredging of Calabar channel awarded by NPA .

“He has been evading all invitations of the Panel over one year.”

The name of the governorship candidate  of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Imo state was seen missing on the list of names published by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Friday.

While that of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Emeka Ihedioha and 66 others appeared on the list, that of the APC was not on the list.

It would be recalled that both Chief Uche Nwosu who is the Former Chief of Staff to the Imo state Governor, Rochas Okorocha and Senator Hope Uzodinma have been in battles over who is the rightful candidate for the APC.

While Okorocha has insisted on the emergence of his former Chief of Staff as the governorship candidate for APC in the state, the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole has recognised Senator Uzodinma as the candidate.

This development has since festered with the contending of the matter in court. Meanwhile, INEC’s omission of APC candidate’s name on its list is however, not unconnected with the order given by the court mandating it not to publish any name for APC since the matter is still in court.

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, is expected to return to the Department of State Services for further interrogation anytime he returns to the country, Ameborave Media learnt on Thursday.

It was also gathered that President Muhammadu Buhari was aware of the investigation of the former governor of Edo State by the security agency.

It was gathered that the President was informed by the Director-General of the DSS, Mr Yusufi Bichi, about the desire of the agency to grill Oshiomhole over allegations levelled against him by some aggrieved members of the party.

Presidency sources told one of our correspondents that the President actually asked the secret police to “go ahead and do their job” when he was told about the allegations of the party chairman.

Oshiomhole, who became the national chairman of the party less than five months ago, has been having a running battle with some governors and leaders within the ruling party.

The leaders and the governors believed that the former governor did not handle the just concluded party primaries across the country well.

It was learnt that some of the governors, especially those  who were unable to secure party tickets for their favourite candidates, had been mounting pressure on the President to overrule the party chairman on the choice of candidates from their states.

It was reported on Wednesday that the DSS grilled Oshiomhole for about nine hours between Sunday and Monday before he travelled out of the county.

Security sources confirmed to one of our correspondents that Oshiomhole would be expected to return for interrogation on his return to the country.

Investigations showed that the interrogation of Oshiomhole was kept secret because the DSS believed it was a party matter.

Apart from this, our correspondent gathered authoritatively that the DSS was planning to send the report of its investigations to the President alone.

The source said, “The comrade (Oshiomhole) is expected to return  for further interrogation when he returns to the country.  That’s why we released him on administrative bail.

“We are still looking at his statements and also carrying out further investigations.  This type of operation is not meant for the members of the public.

“Rather, we will brief the President when the report is ready.  Oshiomhole is the National chairman of the President’s political party. He deserves to know our report first”.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, has urged the DSS to probe Oshiomhole’s call logs for the period the party’s primaries lasted.

He also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to join the DSS in looking into the financial transactions made by the party chairman within the period under review.

Okechukwu, who is a chieftain of the party in Enugu State, made the call at a media briefing at the party’s National secretariat in Abuja on Thursday.

He argued that recent revelations about the National Chairman's grilling by the DSS over allegations of financial impropriety were sufficient reasons for him to resign.

The VON DG said, “Penultimate week, I joined the league of APC moral leaders, faithful and men of good conscience to call on Comrade Adams Oshiohmole, to honourably resign forthwith as the chairmanship of our great party. In his usual narcissistic disposition, he refused.

“As the Oshiohmole Must Go wave raged, the Department of State Services got wind of it. They interrogated him and I patiently waited to read from Comrade Oshiomhole and his spin doctors over his tango with the DSS; in the social or main stream media, neither rebuttal nor denial came from them.

“I, therefore, once again stridently call on Comrade Oshiomhole to instead of pontification, grandstanding and running away from the country, do the needful by honourably resigning the chairmanship of our great party.”

Okechukwu said it would appear that the APC national chairman was running away from duty to evade the substitution window, meant to redress the grievances of party members who were “causalities of his nepotism”.

The party chieftain said the APC and the President would be the better for it if the Chairman stood down to allow the party to go into the 2019 election season with its credibility intact.

He further said, “One would not bother you with Oshiomhole’s malfeasance as his nepotism, undue substitution of candidates and cash-and-carry primaries are on the public domain.

“One, once more, challenges the DSS to scroll the phone-log of Comrade and his nepotic court of cronies. I also urge the EFCC to join in this probe and I am sure it will expose how low the party has sunk under this chairman.”

As Okechukwu expressed his support for the Oshiomhole probe, the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, on Thursday said he was not behind the party chairman’s investigation by the DSS.

He made the denial shortly after he met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The meeting was believed to be a continuation of efforts aimed at resolving the crisis that trailed the primary elections of the ruling All Progressives Congress across the country.

Amosun, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State have been leading the call for the removal of Adams Oshiomhole as the party’s national chairman for the role he allegedly played during the primary elections.

The Ogun State governor, however, in an interview with State House correspondents on Thursday, denied being responsible for Oshiomhole’s reported arrest and interrogation by the Department of State Services.

He said he would never hide behind a finger if he needed to fight. When asked that media reports suggested that he and Okorocha orchestrated Oshiomhole’s investigation, Amosun said, “I think you are probably giving me an oversight role and I am not a security person, so clearly I think that question will not be for me.

“I don’t have to hide under a finger to fight. If there is a need for me to put my views across, you know me by now that I will do it".

When he was also asked to react to the reports that the APC chairman has fled the country, the Governor said, “I have told you that you are asking me questions that I am not well suited for. The one that I have to talk about, we have said it loud and clear that it doesn’t even need adding anything”.

Amosun has been confronting Oshiomhole over the decision of the party’s National Working Committee to recognise Dapo Abiodun as the governorship candidate in his state as against his preferred candidate, Abiodun Akinlade.

The main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, has called on the National Intelligence Agency and INTERPOL to track down Oshiomhole, who is believed to be outside the country since his reported interrogation by the DSS over his roles in the rancourous primaries of the ruling party.

The party noted that Oshiomhole’s swift flight out of the country was suspect.

A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, accused President Buhari of shielding Oshiomhole from prosecution for fear that his investigation would implicate certain interests at the Presidency and the APC.

He said, “It is ludicrous that the APC, in its lying proclivities, believes that by dismissing Oshiomhole’s arrest as a rumour and aiding him to momentarily flee the country, it would succeed in getting him off the DSS hook as well as sweeping the matter out of public discourse with its famished broom.

“No! Nigerians are already aware that Oshiomhole has not denied his investigation including his reported confession that the Presidency was in the know of all his actions.

“The PDP had always cautioned Adams Oshiomhole of his unbridled arrogance, lust for power and alleged embezzlement of public funds for which he must surely have his day in the hands of the law.

“The PDP, therefore, demands that the APC and the Buhari Presidency must immediately produce Adams Oshiomhole to face investigation and prosecution in our courts.”