It appears to be more troubled days ahead for the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, as the Edozie Njoku faction of the party has appointed Ikechukwu Ejesieme to oversee the activities of the party in Anambra.
The pronouncement was made by Njoku’s national leadership, which was recognized as the party’s authentic leadership following a court ruling last month.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, had in 2023, said it made a mistake in a judgment it delivered in 2021, where the court erroneously wrote the name of Victor Oye as APGA national chairman.
However, it was not until last month that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC officially named Njoku in its official website, as APGA’s National Chairman, pulling down the name of Barr. Sly Ezeokenwa.
Governor Soludo had backed the leadership of Ezeokenwa, having come into office through his (Ezeokenwa’s) predecessor, Chief Victor Oye.
The newly-appointed Anambra APGA Chairman, Ejesieme now squares against Barr Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, who is the State Chairman under the Ezeokenwa’s faction, backed by Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
Ejesieme hails from Agulu in the Anaocha Local Government Area.
Also, Sam Nwogbo was appointed the Acting State Secretary to further strengthen the leadership structure within APGA Anambra State.
According to the party’s hierarchy, Ejesieme’s mandate is to oversee the forthcoming local government election primaries in Anambra State.
This, however, casts a shadow of doubt over Soludo’s nomination to fly the APGA flag in his re-election bid.
Many have called on the governor to reconcile with the Njoku leadership, to keep the APGA family united.
However, this appears like no option for many party members who believe the Njoku faction is only playing a game that will expire with time.
Efforts to get the Ezeokenwa faction to respond to the recent appointment by the Njoku faction have been unsuccessful since filing this report.