Confusion as Ebonyi APC stakeholders reportedly fight dirty over ministerial slot
- Stakeholders in Ebonyi APC are reportedly fighting over ministerial slot
- Former minister of science and technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, is said to be at the centre of the battle among four factions
- The SGF, Boss Mustapha, recently said Buhari would unveil his ministerial list in July
- According to report, virtually everyone who contested for the governorship and senatorial positions in Ebonyi are angling to be considered for one federal appointment or another
A report by the Guardian indicates that the crisis rocking Ebonyi state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken another twist over ministerial slot.
The newspaper reported that the immediate past minister of science and technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, is at the centre of bitter political infighting among four factions within the party in the state over who occupies the state’s federal cabinet slot.
It was learnt that up until the build up to the March 9, 2019 gubernatorial poll, APC in Ebonyi was divided into two main camps, with Onu and the 2015 standard bearer of the party, Senator Julius Ali Ucha, leading each faction respectively.
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According to the newspaper, while a former secretary to the state government, Prof. Bernard Odoh and his not-too-young group joined the party quietly, the former senator representing Ebonyi south senatorial district, Sonni Ogbuoji, teamed up with the Onu camp.
It was gathered that at the buildup to the 2019 poll, the issue of delegates nearly robbed the party of participation, but the factions cooperated with the national leadership of APC and patched up the dissolute situation.
The party’s governorship primary ran into trouble when Ogbuoji and Odoh engaged in mind games such that while demographic consideration favoured Odoh, who is from the populous Ezza clan of Ebonyi central senatorial district, Ogbuoji, whose Edda in Ebonyi south senatorial district has lower population of registered voters, was returned as the winner of the primary.
Odoh thereafter petitioned the party and went to court, alleging that Ogbuoji substituted authentic delegates with fictitious characters unknown to the party.
Although the Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki dismissed the case, Odoh and his group insisted that the judgment was technical and dependent on the facts even when they decided not to appeal the ruling after Governor David Umahi of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was returned as winner of the gubernatorial election.
It was also learnt that having lost the governorship and all the three senatorial elections in the state, no sooner had President Muhammadu Buhari been inaugurated for a second term than the scramble for ministerial position became a new battlefield for the various factions.
The situation is compounded by the fact that virtually everyone who contested for the governorship and senatorial positions are angling to be considered for one federal appointment or another.
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As the quiet scramble continues, APC stakeholders question the contribution of the so-called leaders to the success of the party in terms of votes recorded in the 2019 poll.
For instance, in a cart flying about both in the state and social media platforms, the votes garnered by APC and PDP in each of the candidate’s ward are displayed for comparison.
For Onu’s Obiozara with 7,535 registered voters, APC returned 313 votes for President Buhari against 2,346 posted for Atiku Abubakar and PDP.
In contrast Ucha, who was APC’s senatorial candidate in the election garnered 2,394 for Buhari against 2,986 votes cast for PDP out of the total of 16,176 registered voters in his Ezza-Agu ward.
While Ogbuoji, the governorship candidate, contributed 1,737 votes to Buhari’s tally against PDP’s 431 out of the 8,495 registered voters in Ebunwana ward, the party’s senatorial candidate, Prince Nweze Onu, from the same ward with the former minister, had 313 votes in the presidential poll against PDP’s 2,346 votes.
In Ebonyi north senatorial district, APC candidate, Chief Matthias Adum from Ndiabor ward gave Buhari 1,080 votes against Atiku’s 1,571 votes out of the 11,074 registered voters.
The two original APC factions led by Onu and Ucha have been vociferous in their agitation for their principal to be preferred by Buhari to the other for consideration for appointment as minister.
Both camps have been flaunting their contributions to the growth of APC in the state to support their agitation. In the cross of ambitions, both camps have been going for the jugular.
Onu’s supporters recall easily how Ucha defected from PDP to ANPP to contest the governorship, but gloss over the fact that his move earned the opposition a seat in the House of Representatives and two state constituencies.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha on Thursday, June 27, revealed that President Buhari would announce the names of his cabinet ministers in July, 2019.
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