The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has petitioned the National Secretariat of the party over the appointment of Senator Domingo Obende as Chairman, Niger State Registration Committee, alleging that Obende is no longer a member of the party.
The Chairman, Caretaker Committee, Col. David Imuse, rtd, in a statement on Sunday, said the petition became necessary because “Obende’s appointment is causing a lot of ripples in Edo State because Senator Domingo has since June last year ceased to be a member of the party in ward 2, Akoko-Edo, local government area of the state”.
He alleged that Obende was duly suspended from the party by the executive members of his ward in 2020 for anti-party activities which were clearly aimed at bringing the APC into hatred and disunity amongst members and disorganization of the APC structure in ward 2 in favour of the PDP.
“It is for the interest of our party, that Domingo Obende’s appointment be reversed. The morale of our members right now is at its lowest ebb. If Mr. Obende wants to revalidate his membership of the APC, he can do so in his unit during the forthcoming registration exercise.
“We are not aware that Mr. Obende’s suspension has been lifted, and that is obvious because he refused to purge himself of his gross involvement in anti-party activities especially his continuous encouragement of factionalization of the APC at the ward level.
“Rather, Senator Obende got all his supporters in his Akoko-Edo LGA to decamp to PDP in 2020. Even the money for the governorship election brought by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for the election in his local government area was disbursed in his residence at Igarra.
“The fact is, Obende has since ceased to be a member of APC. Most of our party leaders and faithful in Edo State are threatening to jeopardize the forthcoming registration exercise and exit the party en mass if disloyalty is now the hallmark of recognition in the APC,” Imuse said.
Reacting to the allegation, Senator Obende faulted Imuse’s claim and denied the charge of anti-party activities leveled against him, insisting that he remained a bonafide member of the APC.
“In November 2020, I was the one that paid one year’s rent for the APC Secretariat in Akoko-Edo, my local government.
“First and foremost, nobody saw me in any meeting or rally organized by the PDP. The keys to my house in Igarra are with me and whenever I go home I enter my house. I didn’t see anybody come to share money in my house.
“I supported Godwin Obaseki till the end in the APC but we parted ways when he defected to the PDP. So, I remain a member of my party.”
Edo APC should use the ongoing membership registration to attract more people to the party, rebuild ahead of 2023 he added.
