Former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Ben Nwoye, has officially resigned from the party, citing the erosion of its founding values and internal disunity as his reasons.
Speaking during a press briefing in Enugu, Nwoye, one of the party’s founding members, expressed deep dissatisfaction with the current state of the APC both in Enugu and across the South East.
“With a deep sense of responsibility I write to inform you that I hereby resign as a member of the All Progressives Congress,” he announced.
“My resignation is as a result of the disintegration of the leadership of the party in Enugu State.”
Nwoye likened the party’s collapse to a symbolic unraveling: “The bunch of ‘Broom’ which we painstakingly tied together in 2013 at a time when we were called unprintable names has loosened and permanently scattered. All efforts made by the party elders to gather the ‘Broom’ and reassemble it have failed. In its current form, further attempts to reassemble the ‘Broom’ in Enugu State is no longer practicable.”
He accused the South East APC leadership of engaging in “vindictive politics,” alleging that they have shown little interest in expanding the party’s influence beyond the two states it currently controls in the region.
“As far as they are concerned, the supremacy of the party is measured by how low they can go to oppress their perceived political enemies,” Nwoye said.
“These they do, without recourse to the core principles upon which APC stands—Justice, Peace, and Unity. To say the least, the Zonal leadership in the South East has lost direction.”
Nwoye also criticized the APC national leadership, accusing it of ignoring festering internal issues.
“The National leadership of the Party is basking in the euphoria of power, being the party under which the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the majority of the members of the National Assembly were elected,” he stated.
He said the party’s top leadership had turned a blind eye to the factional crises tearing the party apart in Enugu.
“The APC National leadership had maintained willful blindness to issues in the party, hence allowing the warring factions to self-destruct and strangulate the party in Enugu State,” he lamented.
“To worsen the situation,” he continued, “the APC National leadership treats party elders’ calls for reconciliation with disdain and disrespect. Loyal party members calling for party unity are treated like conquered and captured political warriors.”
