By Our correspondent
It was a display of atavism at the weekend at the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) regional headquarters in Awka as the Idemili North Local Govt chairman of APGA, Hon. Obiora Samuel Chukwunulu, was allegedly beaten and assaulted like a common criminal by the security details of the state chairman of the party.
The state chairman had inaugurated the LG chairmen of APGA in all the 21 local councils of the state at the regional office of the party at Awka.
Trouble therefore ensued when the state chairman sighted Hon Obiora Samuel Chukwunulu said to be the duly elected party chairman of Idemili North LGA.
It would be recalled that the state Chairman Barr. Ifeatu Obi-Okoye who is also from Idemili North LGA had allegedly refused to recognize Hon Chukwunulu as the elected chairman for the party in his local government area.
One Chief Lemmy Ekwo was said to have been imposed on Idemili-North APGA faithful as their local government party chairman but the people insisted on Chukwunulu as their duly elected chairman.
It was said that prior to the LG congress, five members of the party in Idemili North LGA bought the nomination forms to contest for the LG party chairmanship position.
But during the congress, three of the aspirants were said to have stepped down for Hon. Obiora Samuel Chukwunulu and he was left with Chief Lemmy Ekwo.
It was gathered that as the voters were lining up to vote, Hon Lemmy Ekwo who saw that the party members were queuing behind Hon Chukwunulu decided to walk out of the venue.
Voting therefore ended peacefully and Chukwunulu was duly elected by the LG congress committee led by one Mr. Ebuka Onyekwelu.
Event took a dramatic turn when the State Chairman Chief Ifeatu Obi-Okoye allegedly refused to recognize Hon Chukwunulu or deal with him as the LG party Chairman of APGA in Idemili North despite the fact that it was the name of Hon. Chukwunulu that was submitted to the party headquarters, INEC and other institutions.
The whole episode came to climax at the APGA regional headquarters Awka when the State Chairman also allegedly refused to inaugurate Hon Chukwunulu as the party Chairman for Idemili North LGA alongside other elected party chairmen inaugurated.
Hon. Chukwunulu was subsequently manhandled, beaten, assaulted and bundled out of the regional office, the venue of the inauguration with his clothes torn.
This onlookers saw as undemocratic, atavistic and condemnable; wondering what powers the State Chairman has to singlehandedly remove an LG party chairman who was elected by the majority of APGA faithful in Idemili North council area.
When contacted as of 3:40 pm on Sunday 17th September, 2023 to respond to allegations of his security details beating Hon. Obiora Samuel Chukwunulu like a common criminal and bundling him out of the inauguration ceremony for elected local government party chairmen at the APGA regional headquarters Awka, the State Chairman, Chief Barr. Ifeatu Obi-Okoye did not respond to several phone calls put across to him by the reporter.
Obi-Okoye did not also reply the message this reporter sent to his phone on the same day.
The message reads, “Good afternoon sir. Please I was calling to seek your reaction to allegations of your security details beating up one Hon. Obiora Samuel Chukwunulu at APGA Regional Headquarters in Awka?”
But Mr. Ebuka Onyekwelu, who was the Returning Officer for Idemili-North Local Government APGA Congress held about 4 months ago, told this reporter that the election was peaceful, free and fair and a winner emerged whose name was submitted to APGA state headquarters in Awka even though he said he has not been paid for his services till date.
When this reporter also contacted the Publicity Secretary of APGA in Anambra State, one Chief Mofus Ezeoba, to ascertain why a chieftain of the party would be beaten and molested by the security details of the state chairman, he said the party has not issued an official statement on the incident.
