by crossriverwatch admin
Trouble is brewing in the Obudu People’s Democratic Party, PDP, chapter executive as members are demanding for the sack of the chapter chairman, Mr Agba Augustine Ugar on allegations of fraud and breach of the party’s constitution.
A petition sent to the State Chairman of the party, Ntufam John Okon made available to CrossRiverWatch and signed by six officials of the chapter executive on behalf of others, contains several allegations of corruption heaped on the Chapter Chairman.
According the officials who include Udo Udida, the Assistant Secretary, Abua Jones, Youth Leader, Aginya Abeshu Ugbe, Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Agba, Ex-officio, Ugan Elijah, Assistant Publicity Secretary and Agim Justina, Ex –officio, the chapter officials stated that , Mr Ugar “Has allowed his personal interest to override the interest of the party contrary to the oaths of allegiance and office which he swore to as contained in schedules 1and 11 of the Party’s Constitution”.
They claimed that outside frequently coercing the treasurer to sign cheques for him with which he collects money from the chapter bank account, he unilaterally set up a screening committee without the directive of the state secretariat and collected the sum of N150,000 and N200,000 respectively from the councillorship and Chairmanship aspirants and “Even when he was directed by the State Chairman to refund the money, he bluntly refused claiming that he had used the money to furnish the chapter secretariat”.
Leveling more allegations against the Chapter Chairman, the aggrieved chapter officials said the monthly funds remitted by the State Secretariat of the party to be handed as stipends to the chapter and ward executive members are always appropriated by Mr Ugar. “Throughout the duration of our stay in office, we had only received stipends for four months ranging from a paltry N3,000 to N5,000 and what happens to the huge sums remitted regularly from the state Secretariat remains unknown to us”.
The petitioners also claimed that the Chapter Chairman apart from imposing his wife as Special Adviser on the Council Chairman also collected the sum of N150,000 from the supervisory councilors, Special Adviser, Due Process and Special Adviser Security while 30,000 was extorted from lower political appointees which he has never accounted for.
To avoid chaos, the six chapter officials concluded, during the fast approaching 2015 elections, “We wish to call on Mr. Agba Augustine Ugar to peacefully resign his position as Chapter Chairman of Obudu PDP or should be relieved of same by the State Chapter of the Party in the interest opf peace and oneness of the party in Obudu”.
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