National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh.
Barely a week after the burial of the founder of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the protracted leadership tussle which had plagued the party may have come to an abrupt end following the eventual surrender of Chief Chekwas Okorie, who had insisted he was the founding leader of the party.
He had prolonged leadership tussle with the present National Chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh.
To put a seal on his resolve to end the crisis, Okorie yesterday wrote to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) surrendering the original Certificate of Registration of APGA which he seized since June 24, 2002 when the party was registered.
In a letter dated March 7th and addressed to INEC's Director, Political Party Monitoring and Liaison, the former National Chairman of APGA said he and his associates had resolved on their own volition to halt further leadership dispute in APGA and discontinue all legal actions to that effect.
“In view of the fact that I and my associates have resolved on our volition to halt further leadership dispute in APGA and discontinue all legal actions to that effect, I feel obligated as a responsible and law abiding Nigerian citizen, to return with this letter the original certificate of registration of the All Progressives Grand Alliance to your commission as the issuing authority," he said.
Okorie, who had engaged in a chain of legal battle to reclaim his leadership of APGA in the past three years, said he had decided to abandon the fight and to chat a new course that would help promote and deepen democracy in the country.
“I, Chief Chekwas Okorie being the founder of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (Section 18 (1) of the APGA Constitution registered with the Commission refers) have been in possession of the original Certificate of Registration of the party since 24th of June, 2002 when the party was registered.
“Having taken this action, I and my associates shall in good conscience, seek without delay, other lawful possibilities of continuing our quest to promote and contribute pragmatically to the deepening of democratic practice, principles and ethos in our dear country,” he said.
The quest for who controls the party at the national level not only took a toll on the political fortune of the party, it almost spelt its doom. The tussle turned out to be one of the most prolonged leadership crisis in recent times, having lasted almost a decade. The party was founded in 2002.
Both parties in the political feud had worn themselves thin in the court with rounds of litigations and counter litigations.
This resulted in the tearing down the line, the party structure in most of the states. There were standing rival factions with each group pledging loyalty to either Umeh or Okorie. And this adversely affected party cohesion understandably.
With court injunctions and accusations literally flying for years, the party was literally disabled in its operations. The Umeh-led faction had been accused, for instance of “crass incompetence”, embezzlement of funds, turning the party to a fiefdom etc.
Too many times, votes of no confidence were passed on leaders of both factions and their executives. Too many times, one faction was suspended by the other, while quoting “favourable” sections of the party’s constitution.
In October 2010, the Umeh-led faction had announced the dissolution of all state chapters of the party, and set up interim management committees. It only worsened the intraparty crisis of the party.
But the Okorie-led faction kept hitting a brick wall in the courts. The attempt, for instance, to use the court to compel INEC to recognise and deal with his own faction, as resolved in the party’s convention in September 2009, failed several times.
Not even the requested order of mandamus to order a review of the leave granted the party could grow the fortune of the Okorie-led faction. The final resolution of the crisis is expected to thus boost its political fortunes in coming electoral contests.
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