A group within the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State, the Ebonyi APC Youths Vanguard, has explained what it believed was responsible for the poor outing of the party during the just concluded 2019 general elections in the state, specifically pointed accusing fingers at the governorship candidate of the party, Senator Sonni Ogbuoji, for allegedly creating division in the party and running the electioneering as a personal enterprise thereby causing disenchantment amongst party members during the polls.

Addressing journalists in Abakaliki the state capital, the president of the group, Comrade Chuks Obeh, recalled that the group had raised an alarm over the suspicious activities and cautioned the national leadership of the party that Senator Ogbuoji was not only a bad influence but a destructive element that should be gotten rid of if the APC must survive in the state.

Obeh noted that the Senator’s activities since he won the party’s nomination as the governorship candidate of the party clearly showed that he was not in the race to win but to destroy the party and use the governorship ticket to shop for a ministerial position.

The group added that they were not unaware of the fact that since after the general elections, Senator Ogbuoji had engaged in publicity blitz claiming to have generated over 90,000 votes for President Muhammadu Buhari when he lost his ward, local government and Zone in the presidential election.

“For instance,” the group said, “in Ebonyi Central Senatorial zone, President Muhammadu Buhari, according to results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), scored 37,655 votes, which was a product of hard work of our National Assembly candidates.

“In Ebonyi North, President Buhari scored 34,249 votes whereas in Ebonyi South Senatorial zone where Senator Ogbuoji is not only a serving Senator representing the zone but also the Governorship candidate of the APC, President Buhari scored only 18,722 votes as announced by INEC which is less than half of the votes Mr. President scored in Ebonyi Central Zone.”

The group noted with dismay that when the APC Campaign Council in the state led by Senator Anthony Agbo raised the alarm as to the inadequacy of fund, Ogbuoji allegedly admonished them not to worry that the Presidency had purportedly directed INEC to write result and declare him as the winner of the governorship election in the state.

He explained further that the failure of APC in Ebonyi State started when Ogbuoji allegedly did not allow the National and State House of Assembly primaries to hold in his Ebonyi South zone but singlehandedly handpicked his cronies while other candidates who won their primaries in Ebonyi Central and North were shortchanged and replaced unilaterally.

Obeh, therefore, renewed their call for the suspension of Ogbuoji, cautioning that anybody who is dealing with him is encouraging division and to further dampen the spirit of APC members in the state.

The Ebonyi APC youths also called on the national leadership of the party and all people of goodwill in the Presidency to distance themselves from Senator Ogbuoji, as he is seen as a mole who has sworn to destroy the APC in Ebonyi State.

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