Against the unfounded story that he is leaving the All Progressive Congress, APC, another party to carry on his ambition, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume has disclosed that only those afraid and worried that they have lost control of the party have resorted to the cheap blackmail and propaganda to discredit him.
According to a report Trumpeta picked online from a national daily after the Senator spoke to newsmen in Abuja, on Wednesday, “there is no iota of truth in the report that I have left the APC. Those afraid and worried that they have lost control of the party have resorted to propaganda to discredit me. Of course, APC is my party and I am very much rooted in it. They are afraid that I am very strong in the party at the grassroots, state and national levels.
“We currently have a government that does not respect the manifesto of the party and the rule of law, so, this government must go. The proper APC government must come on board in Imo State in 2019.
“We have to fight this bad government to a standstill. That is why some of them are worried and have already started talking to Social Democratic Party (SDP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and other parties, while some are trying to revive the Action Alliance (AA).
“But, we will defeat them wherever they go. If I may ask, where am I leaving the party to? We have come to stay, and we will rather drive them out of the party because they are the impostors in the party. Don’t also forget that I was the pioneer state chairman of APP in Imo in 1998.
“Therefore, I am part of the legacy party that became the APC. Some of them, such as Governor Rochas Okorocha came into the APC alone from APGA, because APGA is still a party. They are already worried and jittery…”
The senator equally debunked a report that he walked out of the APC stakeholders’ meeting in Owerri, last Sunday.
“It is not true that we walked out of the meeting. What happened was that the National Organizing Secretary, Senator Osita Izunaso, was to catch a flight to Abuja because he was going to Ekiti State to kick off the revalidation and registration of membership with the national chairman and the entire National Working Committee (NWC).
“That flight was to leave very early in the morning to Ekiti from Abuja and there was no way he would have met the flight. Bearing in mind that there is no night landing and taking off facility at the Imo Airport, he had to leave early. In fact, the representative of the governor, the deputy governor, Eze Madumere, left the same time, alongside every other person who participated in the stakeholders meeting because the meeting was over….”
Meanwhile, the state chapter of the party has put a disclaimer to a purported report that chieftains of the party like Araraume, Senators Osita Izunaso and Benjamin Uwajumogu stormed out of the party during the stakeholders meeting.
In a statement issued by the party, signed by Engr Nwabueze Oguchienti, the State Publicity Secretary, it states as follows;
“the attention of All Progressives Congress (APC), Imo state chapter has been drawn to false and misleading reports in some sections of the media, that distinguished senators Ifeanyi Araraume, Osita Izunaso and Benjamin Uwajumogu walked out of the State Executive Council meeting of APC, that was held at the Sam Mbakwe hall of the Concord Hotel, Owerri on Sunday 18th March, 2018.
“For record purposes, the meeting which was well attended by stakeholders, of the party, had all items listed on the agenda thoroughly discussed and deliberated on and resolutions taken. The Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, left shortly after the meeting, alongside the National Organizing Secretary of the party, Senators Osita Izunaso, Ifeanyi Araraume, and Benjamin Uwajumogu.
“We hereby state that the reports are not only false but misrepresentation of facts. A product of the disjointed and hallucinatory imagination of fifth columnists who are bent on projecting the party in bad light for reasons best known to them.
“No doubt, the APC in Imo State is well prepared for the 2019 general elections and the state executive council is grateful to the stakeholders for their support and donations they made for the sustenance of the party.
“The All Progressives Congress as a party will stop at nothing to ensure a level playing ground for all aspirants who wish to contest elections on the party’s platform, and we hereby, emphasize that no single individual has the right to dictate what happens in the party. The constitution of the party is the road map, as it stipulates guidelines for taking decisions on how to run the affairs of the party effectively, without hitches.
“It should also be noted that majority of these fifth columnists fomenting trouble are not members of the APC, but paid agents, hired by their masters to cause confusion and cause disaffection in the party.
“We therefore call on the general public to completely ignore and disregard the said publication. The All Progressives Congress, Imo state chapter, under the able leadership of Hon. Hilary Ekeh is focused, united and will not be distracted by myopic sentiments.
“Finally, the party reiterates it’s stand on the purported endorsements of candidates and states that nobody has been endorsed by the party and uses this opportunity to call on all members of the party, no matter how highly placed, to conduct themselves with decorum and in line with the party’s constitution”
