A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Abia State, Chukwudi Okpala has accused elder statesman, Prince Benjamin Benedict Apugo of continually de-marketing the party.
Okpala, who said this in a statement he made available to DAILY POST on Monday, accused Apugo, a Board of Trustees, BoT, member of the party, of anti-party activities.
Apugo had in a recent interview, in reaction to the statement by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu that the APC will take over Abia State governor position in 2027, noted that what should be of concern to Kalu and other Abia federal lawmakers is the development of Abia State and ensuring every that federal projects were completed for the betterment of the State, not wasting time in the National Assembly.
Reacting to the elder statesman’s position, Okpala said he was not surprised at the outburst given his (Apugo) disposition towards other APC members.
“Apugo is not a strange name when it comes to causing controversy to gain political relevance, recently he attacked Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu over his viral video wherein Rt. Hon. Ben Kalu stated that his party, the APC, will take over the governorship of Abia State in 2024.
“One would have expected a well-meaning party man to support the call by Rt. Hon. Kalu and work towards his party gaining leadership of the state but typical of Prince Apugo he wants to use the opportunity to show false loyalty to Governor Otti, even though it is public knowledge they are having some friction in their relationship,” he claimed.
Okpala said the call by the Deputy Speaker on the Abia stakeholders to pull their resources together and attract more federal government’s interest for the overall development of the state is in good spirit.
“If Apugo meant well for the state as he claims he would have been in the vanguard of calling on other party members to pull efforts together to ensure that APC takes over the state in 2027.
“This is because it will be in the interest of the state and its citizens to align with the government at the center, but Apugo’s selfishness will not allow him to see beyond selfish pecuniary benefits.
“I’m calling on the APC to sanction Prince B.B. Apugo or even expel him for obvious anti-party activities.
“Chief B. B. Apugo, a supposed BoT member of APC has presented himself as a serial political saboteur who has always been a willing tool to sabotage the APC in every election.
“A BoT member who does not attend party meetings, and does not call for meetings of his party in Abia but he is always seen playing host to candidates of other political parties and is willing to run down the party and its leadership at every given opportunity,” he further alleged.