Former governorship aspirant under the platform of the All Progressives Congress(APC) during 2018 primaries in Abia state Amb. Chibuike Ukauwa, has called out a member of the party’s Board of Trustees(BoT), Prince Benjamin Apugo over alleged treacherous role in the last 2019 general election held in the state.
He insisted that the secret activities of the BoT member and as well, his continued stay in APC, have worsenly endangered the political fortunes of the party which had led APC’s inability to win elections in Abia.
Ukauwa, who spoke in an interview with journalists in Umuahia, the Abia state capital on Saturday, claimed that Apugo was contracted by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu-led People’s Democratic Party(PDP) government which inflicted huge pains to the people of Abia during the last elections.
According to the Abia APC chieftain,”Everybody know Apugo’s stock in trade, diverting party campaign funds and betrayal. Since he joined partisan politics he has failed severally to deliver his ward, which the PDP has continued to win and beat him squarely. I challenge him(Apugo) to come forward with his political profiles, you will also notice thatall political leaders in Abia have abandoned him because, he is being seen as unreliable fellow.
“Apugo should explain to Abians and the party supporters how the disbursement of 2015 APC Presidential campaign fund went. All sincere and dedicated APC stakeholders cannot forget. He has continued to attack party leaders, including the Honorable Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah, because, no more sharing formula in present APC. APC came into power for the purpose of providing Democratic dividends to the starving citizens of Nigeria. It undisputable that PDP has mortgaged the future of Abia. Nothing is breathing in Abia, both living and unliving things.
“For APC to take over Government House in Umuahia, the party need to extend its sledge hammer and discipline erring party leaders like Benjamin Apugo. I want to also challenge him to explain how the funds entrusted in him(Apugo) and enmarked for the purpose of prosecuting the Campaigns of Senator Nkechi Nwogu for Abia central Senatorial district during 2019 election. I want him to tell the people why Senator Nwogu stormed his Umuahia residence with heavily armed security agents and took away her buses. I challenge him(Apugo) to reveal details of Governor Ikpeazu’s visit to him before the 2019 election which was initiated by his Son. The whole world saw APC chieftain was contracted and frustrated chances of the party during elections.
“Apugo has never won or delivered his party in his ward. He has lost relevance and has resorted to launching campaign of calumny against our guber candidate, Dr. Ogah and other leaders. The likes of Benjamin Apugo are the problems of Abia, APC. They only speaks out when their pocket is dry. They don’t speak against the PDP misrule in the state. He has continued to cause confusion with his reckless utterances which posed serious danger to the advancement of APC in Abia and South East zone as a whole.
“Another Apugo intriguing have also been discovered. It is now on our notice that a chieftain of APGA, Alex Otti, has concluded plans to join APC. Benjamin Apugo has been contracted again by Otti and his lackeys to unleash media propaganda against Uche Ogah and also, the latter(Otti) paving way for the APGA chieftain to clinch the APC gubernatorial seat ticket ahead of the 2023 general elections. There are laid down procedures as spelt out by the APC Constitution, for people defecting to a particular political party. You must go to your ward and register. You don’t join party through the backdoor. We will not condone Alex Otti’s divisive politics. If he is defecting to the governing APC, Otti should go to the grassroot, not contracting failed politicians like B.B Apugo.
“What contributions has Apugo made towards the party to win election in Abia and the South east? Instead he will extort monies from top APC members having political ambition to occupy public offices. As far as I’m concerned, Apugo remained politically impotent, that has caused him failing to deliver his ward to President Buhari and Dr. Uche Ogah during the polls”.
However, as at the time of filing this report efforts by our correspondent to reach Prince Benjamin Apugo for his comment over Ukauwa’s claims against him.
Meanwhile, recalls that Benjamin Apugo, a member of the APC Board of Trustees(BoT), had accused Abia APC leaders and the current Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Uche Ogah for allegedly working with Governor Ikpeazu-led governement to thwart the chances of APC during 2019 election.
Apugo made the claim during a press conference in Umuahia, on Thursday, alleged that Governor Ikpeazu purchased nomination form for Ogah and others resorting toserving as moles, which caused APC failing woefully in those elections held in Abia state.
According to elder statesman, which stated partly, “The truth remains that we had no candidate, the candidate that stood for us, Uche Ogah, was just a makeup. He did not come to contest election; in fact before the election, he called and told me that it would be better to leave the governorship seat for Okezie Ikpeazu. It was from that time that I kept myself off him. It was not an accident, it was a clear game that Ikpeazu played with the seven APC governorship aspirants; he bought the forms for all of them. Well, that is by the way because we are not going to compare the past with what we are looking forward to get in the next election if God permits.
“There is nothing one can do when the oil is spilled,;you don’t do anything, but many have now known Ogah, before they did not know him.Forget about that, we don’t talk about 2023 now; nobody knows who will live up to that time. We can’t talk about 2023, it looks funny.
“As we speak, prominent Abians from all walks of life have decided to come into APC to rescue the people of the state. If they had done that earlier, Abia wouldn’t have been in this mess”.
