The Acting Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Enugu State, Dr. Alphonsus Nwafor, has debunked claims regarding a supposed threat letter allegedly issued by the National Chairman of the APC, Dr. Abdulahi Ganduje.
The letter, which reportedly warned the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission, ENSIEC against recognizing Nwafor as the state Chairman of the party, has been labeled as fabricated by Nwafor.
The controversy stems from a letter circulated by the faction of the APC led by Ugochukwu Agballah, claiming that Ganduje had threatened legal action against ENSIEC for its dealings with the Nwafor-led faction ahead of the local government elections scheduled for September 21.
The Nwafor faction had earlier suspended Agballah and several others from the party, securing a court injunction that prevents Agballah from continuing to claim the chairmanship of the APC in Enugu State.
Despite Agballah’s failure to overturn the injunction, ENSIEC has recognized Nwafor as the legitimate Chairman and has cooperated with his faction in preparing for the upcoming council elections.
In a statement released on Friday, Nwafor expressed amusement at the alleged letter from Ganduje, criticizing Agballah for resorting to such tactics instead of pursuing legal avenues to validate his position.
Nwafor dismissed the Agballah faction as “dissidents” and emphasized that if Ganduje had intended to communicate officially, he would have done so through the party’s legal adviser, rather than directly.
Nwafor also pointed out that Ganduje himself had faced suspension in the past but had used legal means to challenge it, rather than relying on bluster.
Parts of Nwafor’s statement reads: “By implication, the dissidents are not only committing a criminal offence of forgery, but are also trying to intimidate and harass the an electoral umpire in their desperation to continue with their ‘business as usual’ merchandising with our respected political party.
“However, let be known that the National Chairman of the APC, Dr. Abdulahi Ganduje is a polished scholar whose reputation cannot be dragged to tanish by some ragtags in the name of political opportunism. Dr. Ganduje is too busy with the party business and does not have time for such frivolity. He knows the provisions of the law such as the Enugu State High Court decision on the leadership of party in the state and cannot allow himself to circumvent the law.
“Our National Chairman was once suspended by the APC in Kano State and as a law-abiding leader he went to the court to quash the suspension and not in the mannerless and bravado that the dissident merchants in Enugu are presently employing.
“Therefore, the letter being bandied by the suspensed members of our party is fake and should be disregarded as a nullity. What should be of utmost concern to the paraders of this fake document is to gently approach the court with an application to quash the suspension of Ugochukwu Agballah. That is leadership with respect to rule of law as was exemplified by our National Chairman during his own commotion.
“In one of our State Executive Council (SEC) meetings held in June this year, Ugochukwu Agballah publicly declared that APC Enugu state chapter will not participate in the 2024 local government election. But suddenly, he turned back because we took the bull by the horn. He should first of all go and quash the court injunction on him before ENSIEC can deal with him, but for now we are the authentic Executive Council of the APC in Enugu State.
“The purveyors of the threat on ENSIEC should do better and approach the court instead of ranting in the air. I encourage the ENSIEC to stand it’s ground ignore the fake letter, knowing that it has the authority of the court to deal with the authentic leadership of the APC in Enugu state led by Dr. Alphonsus Nwafor.
“Ugochukwu Agballah said he was not ready for the election. At what point did he suddenly change his mind? How can he go for election he cannot vote because he doesn’t have voters card
“We strongly want let our patriotic party members and the general public know that we are in possession of electoral materials, we have candidates ready to go for elections and we are working with ENSIEC to ensure that free and fair elections are conducted in all the 260 electoral wards in Enugu state.”