By Lanre Oloyede
Former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Monday stormed the national Secretariat of APC to meet with the national Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu.
Ekweremadu was accompanied to Buhari House by the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma.
Though details of the closed door meeting were not disclosed to journalists at the party’s Secretariat, it may not be unconnected with the reported attempt by Ekweremadu to defect to the APC in a desperate attempt to clinch its governorship ticket for the 2023 elections.
According to a report, the Chairman of Enugu State chapter of APC, Barr Ugoh Agballa had on Sunday disclosed that former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu was making desperate attempts to take the party’s governorship ticket.
The report indicated that there have been speculations around Ekweremadu’s political future following his withdrawal from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and governorship primary election.
At a press conference, Agballa said Ekweremadu was mounting pressure on the APC to grab its ticket.
He, however, said such a move would never work.
He started thus: “Ekweremadu is a man I have great respect for. We have held discussions on the need for him to come and join us as a member of the party, the same way I met other persons.
“I reached out to him before our primary, but he informed me in the presence of the South-East Chairman of our party, that we should give him our ticket for the governorship position.
“Even after our primary, he is still insisting that we should give him the ticket.
“And I’m baffled because his demand is repugnant to natural justice, at variance with the Electoral Act, which he is one of the makers.
“He is in court claiming that he was subverted during the PDP primary, but the same man is now running up and down, disturbing us up and down, mobilizing Senators to prevail on our national chairman to subvert the Electoral Act.
“The Electoral Act is clear; nobody can give him a waiver to undo what we did.
“Uche Nnaji is our candidate; he emerged after a primary election duly observed by INEC.
“We want Ekweremadu to be our member but we cannot give him our governorship ticket. These are some of the things that give a bad image to Nigeria politicians.
“Ekweremadu wants to be Governor but the position was not even zoned to Enugu West, but he wants to take Enugu East turn. Now, he wants to come and subvert us and I ask what kind of a man Ekweremadu, who is this Ekweremadu.
“He is not a member of APC and he is demanding our ticket, is he now blinded by ambition. If I see him at my party, I will treat him like a mad man.
“His demands portend grave danger to our political system. I will not allow desperados to come and scatter what we have laboured for.
“Ekweremadu has been in power for 24 years, he should support others. It must not be about him all the time. We are not operating an absolute monarchy”, he stated.
