The National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Sly Ezeokenwa, on Friday, extended an olive branch to Edozie Njoku following the Supreme Court’s ruling that affirmed his position.
Ezeokenwa said Njoku has never been a member of the APGA but he is willing to lure him formally into the party.
On Wednesday, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court led by Stephen Adah had ruled that Njoku was wrong for parading himself as APGA’s National Chairman.
In a unanimous ruling, the panel had affirmed Ezeokenwa as the authentic National Chairman of APGA.
However, featuring on Arise TV’s Morning Show, Ezeokenwa said it’s time for all members of APGA to close ranks and work for the victory of the party in further elections.
He said: “Immediately after the court’s pronouncement, I addressed the press that came there saying the judgement of the Supreme Court does not really call for celebration but for sober reflection.
“It’s a call for us to close ranks within the party, it calls for unity and a renewed sense of purpose for the members of the party.
“In APGA, we are all brothers, one United family. The only problem I have, like I have always said, is if Edozie Njoku feels committed to APGA, then the first step is to lure him to join the party formally.
“I have consistently maintained that from all verification we have conducted, he’s not a registered member of the party.
“There are some members of the party who were genuinely confused because I do not blame any member of the party who decides to follow Njoku, INEC is a regulatory agency empowered by law to monitor the activities of political parties.
“On July 9, INEC updated it’s website and published a fresh list of purported members of the NWC of APGA, so it will not be out of place for a member of the party to follow those INEC published as National officers of the party, but I’m not holding it against any genuine member of the party who was misled by these issues.
“The most important thing is that the Supreme Court has issued a clarification to APGA, now we know the national leadership of APGA, we know that those who were elected on May 31, 2023 are legitimately in office. What we are doing now is to vigorously pursue a reconciliatory process that tries to bring back everybody within the fold.
“Remember that in 2025, we are facing a major election in the only state we control and there is nobody who entered a war divided that such war does any good. So for us, the most important thing is that we must head into that war as one United big family.
“Any moment from now, we are going to call our executive meeting and trash out all these issues. For me it’s APGA first. We will look at the manifesto of the party and if in the course of this fight we discover those whose ideology aligns with the mantra of the party which is leaving no one behind, then we will do everything to woo such a person to join our ranks.
“We will continue to preach the message of APGA so that it resonates around the entire country, so there is no celebration – it’s time to close ranks and move forward.”