The Anambra government on Tuesday sealed the state secretariat of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) faction loyal to Edozie Njoku.
Tony Ezekwelu, deputy national chairman, South-East of the party, who represented the Njoku faction of the party, told journalists that the APGA-led government of Anambra was trying to intimidate them.
He said, “We came here this morning, and people were going about their normal duties and coming to buy their expression of interest forms for the forthcoming local government election.
“Around 10:00 a.m., a team from Anambra Housing Development Corporation came and sealed off our office.”
According to Mr Ezekwelu, the officials claimed they acted on “orders from above”.
“When we asked them why, they said it was an order from above and that the reason was that this place was originally meant to be a residential area, and we converted it to a party secretariat.
“This place has always been used for party business and we are just the recent people using this. Too many politicians have used this place, and we are not the owners of this property, so we have reached out to the owner of the property,” he said.
Mr Ezekwelu said they moved into the building two months ago and were not served any eviction notice.
“We know this is political and the intention was just to intimidate us, so we did not obstruct them. We allowed them to perform their duties because we are law-abiding people.
“We view this as an act of intimidation and suppression. This is impunity.
But for the records, the Njoku faction of APGA remains the most authentic, and we are ready to accommodate others,” he said.
Reacting, Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra described the crisis in the APGA party as a minor family misunderstanding, which would be settled soon.
Mr Soludo said, “Under our leadership, APGA has never been stronger than what it is today.
“You asked this question about the crisis because of the things you see in the media about our party, but I know that things like these are normal in the run-up to the election.
“I know someone else is claiming that he is the national chairman of the party, and that is through a court order, and I have not seen that court order myself.
“This is just a family problem that will be sorted out soon and sooner than later, everyone will come into the same big tent. I do not see any division in APGA,” he said.
(NAN)
