By Kenneth Atavti
Comrade Daniel Onjeh, the senatorial candidate of the APC for Benue South in 2023, has accused the embattled suspended Benue State APC Chairman, Mr. Augustine Agada, and his cohorts, of desperately trying to link the Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia, with the 7-days ultimatum he recently gave to the APC National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, and the party’s National Working Committee, to either attend to his petition on anti-party activities leveled against Mr. Agada, or resign.
Onjeh said he stands firmly by his seven-day ultimatum to Ganduje and the APC NWC, and that his decision resonates with all the progressives within the Benue State Chapter of the APC, however, the articles and audiovisuals being circulated online with the title, “Alia, Onjeh Move against Ganduje, Call for APC Chairman, NWC Immediate Resignation”, was another falsehood and propaganda from the enclaves of the of deluded travelers.
Speaking through Prince Maxwell Ogiri, the Director of Media for the Onjeh Campaign Organization (OCO), Comrade Onjeh further alleged that the ill-contrived publication with the title, “Alia, Onjeh Move against Ganduje, Call for APC Chairman, NWC Immediate Resignation”, which was published on a pseudo online news media, with a voiceover of its content allegedly broadcasted by yet another pseudo television station identified as Anchor TV, equally bares the imprints of a current member of the House of Representatives, who is notorious for cheap blackmail and destructive political propaganda.
“We have ample evidence at our disposal to support my claim of the source of the publication. I therefore humbly call on the general public to completely discountenance and disregard the fictitious story and its promoters. The informed members of the public can attest to the fact that no mainstream news media; whether print, electronic or online, established on a foundation of ethical journalism, published or broadcasted the story because they know that it was fake,” stated Prince Ogiri.
Onjeh stated that the ultimate aim of the crafters of the falsehood was to divert public attention from the core issues unsettling the APC in Benue State, and equally to sow the seed of discord and disaffection between Governor Alia and the APC National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, along with other members of the party’s NWC. He charged detractors to be at least sane and decorous enough to leave Rev. Fr. Alia out of the issue, and rather answer the pertinent questions he raised in his petition before the APC National Working Committee, against Mr. Agada’s anti-party activities targeted at his senatorial candidature during the 2023 general elections.
The former Chairman, Governing Board of PRODA, Enugu, further stated that at no time did His Excellency Rev. Fr. Alia summon any purported meeting with Chief Barnabas Gemade, Hon. Emmanuel Jime and him, to discuss or scheme the resignation or sack of the APC National Chairman, Dr. Ganduje, or any of the APC NWC members. He said although it wouldn’t be wrong if as members of the APC, all four of them met and discussed issues relating to the interest of their party, as their inalienable rights to express their opinions were guaranteed under the Nigerian Constitution.
However, he will not accept what did not happen, and he wishes to make clear that the meeting they alleged Governor Alia held with Chief Gemande, Hon. Jime and him, was a mere figment of their evil imagination.
“I further wish to state that Onjeh was bold enough to express his grouses against Mr. Agada in his petition before the APC NWC. His recent seven-days ultimatum to the APC National Chairman and NWC was to the effect that they should either treat his petition before them against Mr. Augustine Agada, in line with Sections 13 and 21 of the APC Constitution, 2022 (as amended), or resign their offices. It was not with any malice aforethought.
Onjeh further stated that Governor Alia holds the APC National Chairman, Dr. Ganduje, in very high esteem, and that his issue with the National Chairman, which warranted the recent seven-days ultimatum he issued to him and the members of the APC NWC, was nothing personal, but had to do with the circumvention of the APC Constitution by the NWC, of which the National Chairman is a part of. Onjeh said he made that clear in his recent memo to the APC National Chairman.
“The Governor of Benue State, Fr. Alia, has absolutely nothing to do with the ultimatum Onjeh gave to the APC National Chairman and NWC. His petition was necessitated by the anti-party activities that Mr. Agada perpetrated against him – not against Fr. Alia – during the last general elections. The case is actually between Comrade Onjeh and Mr. Agada, along with his backers – the same people who are bent on stifling the economic growth, development and prosperity of Benue State. Therefore, Fr. Alia has no reason to call for Dr. Ganduje’s resignation,” stated Ogiri.
Prince Ogiri further stated that Fr. Alia has demonstrated beyond doubt that he is indeed a perfect gentleman, adding that no other state governor in Nigeria will tolerate the insane acts of insolence and insubordination that the suspended Benue State APC Chairman have carried out in recent times. He noted that Governor Alia has however remained unruffled and non-vindictive all through the matter.
“Governor Alia’s only intervention in the entire saga has been to uphold the principles of justice, equity and fairness, and to abide by the APC constitution in respecting the decision of the council ward of Mr. Agada, which suspended him from the APC for anti-party activities by acting on Onjeh’s petition to the National Working Committee, which he copied the council ward. The Governor, as the leader of the APC in Benue State, accordingly stepped in and respected the nomination of the Benue South people, which projected Hon. Benjamin Omakolo as the Acting Chairman of the Benue State Chapter of the APC, a worthy replacement for the suspended chairman, Mr. Austin Agada, considering that nature abhors a vacuum.
“That is why Hon. Omakolo stepped up to the saddle as the Acting APC Chairman in Benue State, and the entire APC structures and members in the state have wholeheartedly accepted him. What is expected of the APC National Leadership right now is to equally ratify Hon. Omakolo as the substantive Chairman of the APC in Benue State, so that peace and sanity can be restored once and for all, in the state chapter of the party,” stated Ogiri.
Comrade Onjeh restated that His Excellency, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, is the one and only leader of the APC in Benue State, and there could not be two captains in one boat, adding that an attempt to establish a parallel authority for the APC in Benue State will be a recipe for anarchy.
“I therefore urge the National Secretariat of the APC to understand that there is a fundamental difference between the disciplinary action that was taken against Mr. Agada at his council ward, and Onjeh’s petition on the same subject matter before it. The Constitution of the APC says that Onjeh, as a bonafide member of the party, can file a petition before the NWC, and they are duty-bound to treat the petition. In any case, the NWC is bound by the constitution of the APC to make a pronouncement on Onjeh’s petition. It can never be swept under the carpet. All Onjeh is asking the APC NWC to do is simply to respect the party’s constitution and make pronouncement on his petition, one way or another.
“The APC constitution stipulates that within seven days of receiving a petition, the NWC should constitute a fact-finding committee that would investigate the matter and bring its report before the NWC, and thereafter, the NWC should constitute a disciplinary committee to recommend appropriate disciplinary actions. That is what the APC NWC failed to do, and that is why Onjeh is asking them to resign if they don’t do that, because it would amount to a circumvention of the APC constitution. Therefore, dragging Governor Alia into the matter of Comrade Onjeh’s petition against Mr. Agada or his ultimatum for Dr. Ganduje to either uphold the APC constitution or resign, is purely diversionary and a clear attempt at blackmail,” stated Prince Ogiri.
