The South-East caucus of the All Progressives Congress
appears willing to work with the party to remove the Deputy Senate President,
Ike Ekweremadu from office, SUNDAY PUNCH, has learnt.
It was gathered in Abuja, on Saturday, that party leaders
from the zone are particularly interested in his removal to boost the party’s
strength.
They argued that Ekweremadu would use his position to
further entrench the Peoples Democratic Party,
if they allowed him to remain
A leading party member from the zone, who asked not to be
named for fear of retribution said, “We are not ignorant, we know that the new
Senator from our zone, being a green horn and the only one, cannot unseat
Ekweremadu.
“We will be willing to trade him in for a grade (A) ministry
and a choice committee.
“Ekweremadu’s continued stay as the Deputy Senate President
may hamper the growth of the APC in our zone.”
When contacted, the party’s National Vice-Chairman in charge
of the South-East, Emma Eneukwu, said he was at a zonal meeting and was not in
a position to take questions.
However, a chieftain of the party and member of the
South-East caucus, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said, “To be honest we candidly advise
Ekweremadu to step down for our brother, Sen. Ben Uwajumogu.
“His first excuse for usurping the APC’s slot was to
represent Ndigbo. Now that Ndigbo has secured a Senate seat, good conscience
and equity demands his voluntary exist.”
Okechukwu, who is now the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria,
in response to a question on why he was pushing the ethnic card, said, “He
(Ekweremadu) is the one who boasted with the ethnic card. Honour dictates his
exist simple and short.”
Also a member of the Senate APC caucus, Senator Adesoji
Akanbi (Oyo-South), who is also a member of the anti-Saraki Senate Unity Forum,
said the party was weighing its options on how to handle the Ekweremadu issue.
He told one of our correspondents, “The leadership of the
APC will decide on who replaces Ekweremadu only after the party has succeeded
in sacking him. But I think (the Majority Leader of the Senate) Senator Ali
Ndume is qualified to replace Ekweremadu.
“The party will come up with several options and at that
point in time, the replacement will surely come from the party. Nobody will
move against the party. The party will liaise with us and we will all agree.”
Another member of the APC caucus, who spoke to Sunday PUNCH on
condition of anonymity, said the ruling party was banking on the Senate
Standing Rules forgery case to remove Ekweremadu.
He noted that the APC was aware that Saraki and Ekweremadu
enjoy the backing of the majority of senators making it difficult to get a
two-third of the senators to end their leadership.
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