From Ene Asuquo, Calabar

Former presidential aide to President Mohammadu Buhari and Chieftain of ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Okoi Obono -Obla said he is ready for any show down from the Cross River state party Chairman of APC, Alphonsus, whom Obla claimed threatened to have him disciplined for daring to call for his removal as party chair.

Obla made the remarks while commenting on the issue during an interactive session with our Correspondent in Calabar yesterday. Obla had in a letter dated September 9, 2024 addressed to the Cross River State governor Senator Bassey Edet Otu, calling for suspension of the APC state party Chairman Alphonsus Ogar for daring to make statements which Obla alleged were inciting against the leadership style of president Bola Tinubu’s economic policies in the social media space.“Making such comments on the social media space about the president’s economic policies and hunger situation in the country amounts to inciting Nigerians to rise up against Mr President”.While on the contrary, Ogar had alleged that Obla’s letter to the Governor advocating his suspension as party helmsman was abnormal as the letter is likely to bring disdain and disrepute to his person as state party chairs.He alleged that Obla had no right nor justification to carry out such advocacy on his suspension as he lacked the powers, wondering what could have given Obla the temerity to seek for his suspension.But in a swift reaction to Ogar’s comments, Obla threatened to approach the court to kick Ogar out from the party Secretariat for daring to make deriding comments against him even when he knows that he has no clean financial records to showcase when called to do so during accountability as he had run the party as an emperor.He enumerated Ogar’s wrong doing to include, factionalization, violation of party rules, stifling of party’s internal democracy diverting 800 out of the 1000 bags of rice meant for vulnerable to his cronies.Obla called on Ogar to account for 10,000 bags of rice that he received from the federal government for the vulnerable people in the state.”I am waiting for Oga to discipline me. You can see his pseudo democratic, dictatorial, oppressive and intimidatory mindset.”Ogar threatened to discipline me for expressing my opinion on matters concerning the Party”.Resorting to the use of derogatory, insulting and gutter language to belittle me or obfuscate the fundamental issues I had raised in my letter to the Governor, is a reflection of their poor home training.”I have taken it upon myself to be an advocate to speak up against dictatorship,oppression and constitutionalism.”Chicanery, feudalism, retrogression and deviation,from the progressive credentials of the APC, that are being perpetrated by the present State Exco, and nothing would deter me.”When we were founding the APC in 2013, where were these charlatans and opportunists? Threatening to discipline me would not deter me from speaking out.In his reaction to Obla’s call for suspension of APC state party Chairman, State party Chairman Barr. Alphonsus Ogar through the state publicity secretary, Emmanuel Edem Inyang, called for psychological examination, stressing that Obla’s allegations were baseless as they were meant to tarnish his good reputation.”Okoi Obono-Obla’s conduct is unbecoming of someone who claims to be a senior lawyer and former presidential aide. His history of blackmail, crisis-mongering, and personal vendettas is well-known in Cross River State and indeed the entire Nation.”We will not allow him to tarnish the image of our party or its leadership. He has no locus standi to institute any legal action against the party, and we will not hesitate to initiate disciplinary action if his reckless behavior continues. The release was maintained.