The Enugu State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Sunday said it did not want Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, in the party.
Senator Kabiru Marafa, an APC senator from Zamfara State, had advised Ekweremadu, who represents Enugu West Senatorial Zone in the Senate, to defect to the APC if he must keep his seat as the Deputy Senate President.
Restating the call in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, Marafa said, “I am telling you that he (Ekweremadu) has the opportunity now. Let him just defect. The beauty of any political party is the people. If you can join us, join us. We want more people. Instead of moving against his seat, let him join us.”
But the APC in Enugu State did not welcome Marafa’s call on Ekweremadu.
Speaking with journalists in Enugu, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Enugu State, Mrs. Kate Offor, said the Deputy Senate President was not needed in the party.
Offor said Ekweremadu should remain in the PDP, which she said he (Ekweremadu) contributed in ‘destroying’.
The Deputy Senate President would be an unwelcome guest in Enugu State APC, should he decide to join the party, Offor stressed.
“Whatever is the position of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we want him (Ekweremadu) to remain in the PDP.
“We wish to make it very clear that Ekweremadu is an unwanted guest in the Enugu State APC.
“Let him stay and salvage the inferno festering in the PDP,” the Enugu State APC spokesperson said.
“We don’t want a one-party state,” she added.
Offor noted that Ekweremadu would bring ‘confusion’ into the APC, if he heeded Marafa’s call.
According to her, the Deputy Senate President contributed to the ongoing problems in his party, the PDP.
She said, “Most importantly, we don’t want him to infect and transfer confusion into the APC – his trademark in the PDP from the time of Governor Chimaroke Nnamani in 1999 till date.
“The truth is that Ekweremadu contributed in no small measure to the mess the PDP found itself today, via unbridled impunity and unconscionable anti-internal democracy antics.”
PUNCH
