The Director‑General of Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, described his expulsion by the Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a desperate attempt by state chairman Ugochukwu Agballa to remove foundation members of the party. Okechukwu, along with former governor Sullivan Chime, former Speaker of the State House of Assembly Eugene Odo, an aide to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Flavour Eze, and two others, were expelled on Thursday for alleged anti‑party activities. Former Senate President Ken Nnamani and Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama were also suspended.
The disciplinary actions were announced by the party’s Enugu State Secretary, Robert Ngwu, who accused party chieftains of endorsing candidates from other political parties in the recently concluded 2023 general election. Ngwu said the disciplinary committee’s report had been approved by an expanded State Executive Committee meeting. He explained, “The party is fully aware of the nefarious activities of the previous administration in the 2015 and 2019 general elections. With that in mind, the party reviewed various petitions and reports from the fact‑finding and disciplinary committees against some individuals. The Fact‑Finding Committee and the Disciplinary Committee have established a prima facie case of anti‑party activities against Senator Ken Nnamani and recommended his suspension from the party.”
Okechukwu told our correspondent by telephone that, like many other foundation members, he is innocent of the allegations. He claimed that, rather than apologising for the APC’s poor performance in the recent elections, the party leadership resorted to persecuting members. Describing the accusations of anti‑party activities as a “childish lie,” Okechukwu blamed the party chairman, whom he said was “power‑drunk,” for orchestrating the drama. According to Okechukwu, Agballa entered the party from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to hijack the leadership and expel foundation members and dissenting voices. He added, “The story of my kinsman Ugo Agballa is the story of a failed chairman quarreling with himself. He came from the PDP like a political bandit and hijacked our great party. To fill his empty pocket, he drove all the stakeholders away and boasted he would quadruple the 56,000 votes we scored at the 2019 presidential election. Regrettably, he scored abysmally—only 4,722 votes.”
When contacted for comment, the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, could not be reached. APC Director of Publicity Bala Ibrahim expressed surprise at the report, saying, “I am surprised. How did all these important personalities get suspended and expelled? The last Okechukwu and I spoke was prior to the election. I don’t know what really transpired, but this decision must have been taken at the ward, state or grassroots level. I believe they must have also copied the leadership of the party at the national secretariat. Up until the time I left the office today, it has not come.”
As of the time of filing this report, former Governor Chime, Senator Nnamani and Minister Onyeama could not be reached for reactions.
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