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Former Enugu Assembly Speaker, Odoh Tackles APC Chairman, Agballah, Accuses Him Of Running Party With Impunity

 Eugene Odoh
February 5, 2023

Agballah reportedly maligned the former Speaker and other APC bigwigs at a campaign tour in Opi, Nsukka Local Government Area, saying that the leaders cannot win their wards.

As the crisis in the Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) deepens, former Speaker of the State Assembly, Mr Eugene Odoh has lambasted the party chairman, Chief Ugochukwu Agballah, describing him as a frustrated human being.

 

Agballah reportedly maligned the former Speaker and other APC bigwigs at a campaign tour in Opi, Nsukka Local Government Area, saying that the leaders cannot win their wards.

 

He accused the APC leaders in the zone of working against the party, saying “that they are working for the PDP…that they are agents of PDP in APC." He also called them unprintable names.

 

But reacting to the allegations, Odoh asked, "Is he the only frustrated person? Having left office since 1999 and he had opportunity of being a Chairman, it would have been an avenue to redeem his image which is battered."

 

The former Speaker said Agballah inherited a party that was booming, saying "membership was very robust with high-quality people". 

 

"Each time we want to have meeting at Nza street you see the likes of former Senate President, Ken Nnamani; Gbazuagu Nweke; former governor Sullivan Chime; IK Ugwuegde; Senator Ayogu Eze and almost every stakeholder in APC," he said. 

 

He said that Agballah started attacking every leader "thinking that driving them away will give him opportunity to loot without questions".

 

“But since Ugo Agballah came in, it’s quite unfortunate that he couldn’t harness what he met on the ground. He has been there raining abuses on the party people, he has been raining abuses even on members of his executive.

 

“Of course, you would have seen how he has been insulting Ken Nnamani, Sullivan Chime and anybody he cares to insult. So we feel that as party people we should tag on until we realised, there is no seriousness in what he is doing as party Chairman.

 

“As I speak to you the National office that was zoned to Nsukka, when it eventually came it was given to Emma Enukwu who is from Enugu West senatorial zone. Not just Enugu West but the same Local Government with Ugo Agballah. Also, the Deputy Governorship candidate zoned to Enugu North, as I speak to you, the state secretary remains in INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) as the deputy governor."

 

He added, “So I was wondering the kind of conscience and shamelessness that will drag Agballa to any part of Nsukka zone to campaign. Are you campaigning to people whose position you have jettisoned? Are you campaigning to them as fools? Or are you campaigning to them as people who have no sense of history?

 

“The way he has carried on with impunity is nauseating. You met Ken Nnamani in the party, you are not working with him; you met Sullivan Chime in the party, you are not working with him; you met Onyemuche Nnamani, Gen Ugwu who is ambassador in Poland, Ben Nwoye, Gbazuagu Nweke Gbazuagu, Ben Eche, Timothy Ama, Val Nnaedozie, Joe Mammel, the Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, Osita Okechuukwu, Ibekaku, Eugene Odo, Ayogu Eze; you met all these people in the party, you are not working with them.

 

“And he cannot mention one person he is working with. You are parading a Deputy Governorship candidate who you are more or less deceiving. What kind of Chairman will run an election where the governor and deputy will come from the same senatorial zone as it’s presently in INEC?

 

“What kind of Chairman will run an election where there is no manifesto for the Governorship candidate up till today? What kind of Chairman will superintend an election with no single campaign Council?

 

“You have a DG who is from the same Constituency as the governor. There is no single Campaign Council perhaps the DG is the sole administrator.

 

“And in all that we felt we can select people who are serious and support, certainly not people who are not serious and allowed Ugochukwu Agballah with his malfeasance.

 

“He, with his cohorts superintended the denial of Enugu North their rightful position that was written, signed under the agreement. As if it wasn’t enough, he had the temerity to come to the same Enugu North to insult the leaders, just because they left you.

 

“Have you ever seen a party Chairman who has taken the place of a Director General?

 

“And even if you go for campaign you can never say anything about PDP (Peoples Democratic Party), you can never say anything about Labour Party, you are there maligning leaders who were there before you.

 

“He has never won any election. Not even Councillorship position. From where is the experience of even engineering an election come from?”