The leadership crisis rocking the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, appears to have deepened as the party leadership in Etche Local Government Area of the State has suspended Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke.
Nwuke is a former House of Representatives member for Etche/Omuma Constituency.
He was suspended from the ward level.
The baggage of his suspension translate to his being barred from attending and participating in all APC events in the ward, state and national levels.
Recall that Nwuke had, on Tuesday, unilaterally, suspended Chief Allwell Onyesoh, the leader of the APC caucus in Etche Local Government Area from the party. Nwuke who addressed a news conference, at his residence in Port Harcourt, stated that Onyesoh was suspended from the party because he was disrespectful to the leader of the party and Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
Onyesoh’s purported suspension had severely polarised the APC across the 23 local government areas and 319 wards in the state, with many big wigs in the party publicly censuring what they referred to “as the utterly over bearing attitude of the leadership of the party in Rivers State.”
Nwuke’s suspension was announced on Thursday evening by the Chairman of the APC in Ward 5, in Etche, Mr. Okechukwu Nweke after an enlarged meeting of the party’s leadership in Ward 5.
The executive of the party in Ward 5, also advised the leadership of the party at the state and national levels to “stop dealing with Nwuke in the interest of the party”.
The statement announcing Nwuke’s suspension reads: “Having invited Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke to appear before the ward executive council to explain his role in the purported suspension of the Leader of the APC caucus in Etche LGA, Chief Allwell Onyesoh, the party considers it as an embarrassment to the party which he practically neglected by disobeying the party invitation to appear before the ward executive.”
“Having exhausted the party’s constitutional provision and process on how an erring party member should be disciplined and in keeping with article of 21 (a) sub-section (iii) and (b) of the party’s constitution, we, hereby, in the interest of sustainable party discipline suspend Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke, the former member of the House of Representatives from the party for anti-party activities, gross misconduct and insurbodination.”
