After about five hours’ delay, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Thursday, inaugurated newly-elected state chairmen of the party.
Prior to the inauguration of the chairmen, security was beefed up at the national headquarters of the party in Abuja
The heavy security presence at the Buhari House was part of the effort by the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) to ensure there was no breakdown of law and order, especially from the aggrieved members of the party.
The event scheduled to commence by 2 pm did not start until a few minutes to 6 pm.
The state chairmen of the were inaugurated by the Secretary of the party, Sen. John Akpanudoedehe.
He said, “I’ve been asked to come and issue you certificates of return to you as duly elected State Chairmen of our party.”
However, while the state chairmen were given certificates, no oath of office was administered to them at the hurriedly held event.
The ruling party is already faced with crises in states like Osun, Kwara, Kano, Zamfara, Lagos, Ekiti, among others where parallel congresses were held.
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The state Chairmen inaugurated were: Dr Kingsley Ononogbu (Abia), Mr Ibrahim Bilal (Adamawa), Mr Augustine Ekanem (Akwa Ibom), Hon. Basil Ejike (Anambra), Mr. Babayo Aliyu Misau (Bauchi), Dr. Dennis Otiotio (Bayelsa), Mr. Augustine Agada (Benue), Hon. Ali Bukar Dalori (Borno), and Mr. Alphonsus Eba (Cross River).
Others included: Mr Omeni Sabotie (Delta), Hon. Stanley Emegha (Ebonyi), Col. David Imuse (Rtd) (Edo), Mr Omotosho Ayodele (Ekiti), Mr Ogochukwu Agballah (Enugu), Mr Nitte Amangal (Gombe), Dr Macdonald Ebere (Imo), Hon. Aminu Sani Gumel (Jigawa), Air Cdre Emmanuel Jekada (Rtd) (Kaduna), Mr. Muhammed Sani (Katsina), Mr. Abubakar Kana (Kebbi) and Hon. Abdullahi Bello (Kogi), among others.
However, state chairmen from Sokoto and Kano states were conspicuously absent from the inauguration.
Speaking on behalf of the state chairmen, Hon. Bukar Dalori of Borno state expressed gratitude to the leadership of the party for the confidence reposed in us.
He pledged unalloyed loyalty to the leadership of the party.
Dalori stressed that as state chairmen, they have taken your charge in good faith and like soldiers, they would be unrelenting in marching the party to a commanding and convincing victory in 2023.
According to him, “Let us also use this opportunity to assure members in our respective states that we shall work with every party member to ensure APC protects Nigeria from those who destroyed it in the past.”
