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Mr. Iwemdi Nwaham, Ag. Delta APC Publicity Secretary.

The Cyril Ogodo faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Delta State miffed by what it called the continuing impersonation of the party by a group it accuses of persisting in deceiving the unsuspecting Nigerian public that they are the APC in Delta State.

Referring to the Prophet Jones Erue faction, which it fingered as putting up deceitful pretensions in flagrant disobedient to a court ruling by the Federal High Court 1, Asaba, the Acting State Publicity Secretary of the Cyril Ogodo faction, Mr. Iwemdi Nwaham stated in a statement that enough is enough with the impersonators and impostors, and then issued a final warning to them, saying: “We seize this opportunity to address these pig-headed people impersonating APC Delta to stop forthwith. We have tolerated this childishness for long enough and the time draws neigh to weld the big stick. This is your final warning.”

Below is full text of the statement:

2nd May 2019

PRESS STATEMENT

THIS LAWLESSNESS MUST STOP FORTHWITH

The attention of APC, Delta State chapter, has been drawn, yet again, to the continuing impersonation of our party by a group that has persisted in deceiving the unsuspecting Nigerian public that they are the APC in  Delta State. They do this in flagrant disobedience to a court ruling by the Federal High Court 1, Asaba on 18th March 2019. This latest act of impersonation was exhibited through another “Press Statement” released on 1st May 2019, purporting it to come from APC Delta State and countering the position held by the rightful chairman of the party in the state, Chief Cyril Ogodo and his executive.

The title of the offensive press statement is RE: DELTA APC COMMENDS BUHARI, NGIGE FOR ISIRE, KOKORI APPOINTMENT, in which they countered the position held by the genuine and proper personages of our party in the state, where they commended the President of the Federation Muhammadu Buhari and the Honourable Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige for the appointments they endorsed for two eminent Deltans namely, Chief Frank Kokori and Chief Austin Isire.

WRONG PREMISE

The authors of that rebuttal hinge their recalcitrance and their persistence to continue to open their foul mouths and pollute the air whenever they speak for our party, to the fact that the ruling of the court referred to above “is being tested at the Court of Appeal, Benin”. The statement further stated: “ The law is that until the constitutional rights of appeals of APC and those affected by the judgment are exhausted at the Appellate Courts (Court of Appeal and Supreme Court), whatever purported right accruing to Cyril Ogodo remains inchoate”.

Applying commonsense reasoning to the above highlighted portion, the question is, ‘Who is now APC and who are those affected by the judgment that have gone on appeal’?

The authors of that press statement also referred to “a valid judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja delivered by Hon. Justice Chikere, which gave legal backing to Prophet Jones Ode Erue led Executive of APC, Delta State. That judgment has not been challenged by Cyril Ogodo and his co-travelers till date”. This is the so called “Consent judgment” that was controversially procured very early this year and which the FHC in Asaba took notice of before passing her own judgment.

 

THE JUDGEMENT THAT CRUSHED JONES

Now, what is that judgment at the Federal High Court, Asaba? Below are excerpts of the judgment of Justice Toyin B. Adegoke on 18th March 2019:

1) “The case of the Plaintiffs (Cyril Ogodo and his executive) succeeds in its entirety.

2) “All the reliefs of the Plaintiffs from relief 1 to relief 13 are hereby granted.

3) “The Plaintiffs and their various executives are the valid executives of the 1st Defendant in Delta State …”

THE ISSUE IN CONTENTION

The issue in contention between the two tendencies namely the authentic APC structure in Delta State and the renegades who temporarily usurped power and are now being routed by the various courts of the land, even to the appeal levels is, ‘who should be representing the interest of our party at this time and also talking for the party’?

The court in the ruling listed above, laid that to rest. Even when the losers have appealed, should we allow them to continue to plunder the party and pollute the air with their rascality and disrespect for constituted authority?

The un-informed authors of the press statement, in paragraph 4 stated that “…sometimes in 2017, base (sic) on the towering credentials of Chief Frank Kokori, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari appointed Frank Kokori, the Chairman of NSITF”. It is our BELIEF (capital ours) that the appointment of Chief Kokori as NSITF Chairman by the president was/is borne out of the need to sanitize same the (sic) NSITF that was recently enmeshed in serious cases of fraud…and Chief Kokri is the rightful person to carry out the anti-corruption crusade of Mr. President to the latter (sic) …”

LET’S APPLY COMMON SENSE

Let us dissect the above with small common sense. In tangible terms, what does “towering credential” amount to for a technical board like the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund? Is just to ‘sanitise a parastatal’ the only criterion to appoint a board chairman of such a blue chip organisation? What about the business side of the parastatal?  If sanitizing the place was a goal in 2017, should the minister or the president be tied to that choice when their goals have shifted?

Secondly, why would supposedly seasoned lawyers, if indeed they are, begin to speculate on why Chief Kokori would have been appointed to that position two years ago. They believed that “the appointment of Chief Kokori to the position was/is borne out of the need to sanitise the place.” If indeed it was then, why must they be bound by that decision now?

 

In that terribly nauseating write up, we expected the authors to list the “towering credentials” of Chief Frank Kokori, namely the schools he attended up to university level, if any; courses he attended, membership of professional bodies, if any, etc. Not that he must have them, but let’s know what he has. If in the 1960s anybody can hold any position, this is 2019 for goodness sake. NSITF is not just any kind of parastatal. It can be likened to Central Bank of Nigeria, the defunct NERFUND, NEXIM Bank. Membership of such bodies, if this nation must move forward, is not just to go and sit at meetings and mope and collect sitting allowances at the end of the day.

If the appointing authority feels that the nation’s priorities have changed and they want people more knowledgeable in a particular area to man certain ministries, departments and agencies, why must there arise a rumpus? And this brings us to the unsavoury role of the Nigerian Labour Congress and some Civil Society Organisations. As many Nigerians lampoon the name of the president for various reasons, none of us is castigated along with him. He floats or sinks with his decisions. So whose bidding is NLC and some Civil Society Organisations doing by challenging the decision of Mr. President? This can only happen in Nigeria. If the president is not aware of this change of Chief Kokori’s name or is not in support of it, there are many avenues to verify this. What can be more appropriate than having a veteran labour leader man a reputable labour institute of international acclaim? Is that no more the proverbial “round peg in round hole?”

FINAL WARNING

We seize this opportunity to address these pig-headed people impersonating APC Delta to stop forthwith. We have tolerated this childishness for long enough and the time draws neigh to weld the big stick. This is your final warning.

IWEMDI NWAHAM

Ag. Publicity Secretary

APC,  Delta State.