The United Progressive Foundation (UPF), a political action committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), says calls for the removal of Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, as the Chairman of Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) are not misplaced.

UPF said Uzodimma’s actions over the years have not yielded any positive dividend for the APC, stressing that the time has come to remove the governor from influential positions in the party, particularly the APC Governors’ Forum.

The group said these while speaking on the reactions that the trailed last Saturday’s controversial primary election of the ruling party in Edo State.

The governor, who was appointed as the Edo APC governorship primary election committee, had declared a member of the House Representatives, Dennis Idahosa, as the winner of the primaries.

The election was later declared inconclusive by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC and Uzodimma was replaced by his Cross River State counterpart, Bassey Otu.

However, UPF, in a statement issued by its national secretary, Dr Steve Igweze, on Friday, February 23, 2024, said Uzodimma’s decision to usurp the functions of the returning officer in the governorship primaries was the “height of political rascality and executive impunity”.

APC declares Senator Okpebholo as Edo guber candidate

UPF noted that the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, did the right thing by distancing Governor Uzodimma from the re-run primaries in Edo State, saying the decision by the national leadership of the ruling party to cancel the primary election was not only a repudiation of the process.

On the claim that Okechukwu did not win any election, the UPF said it would not blame the APC National Vice Chairman, South-East, Arodiogbu Ijeoma, “who was a product of imposition or his godfather, who were enjoying their comfort zone in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) between 1999 and 2015, while Okechukwu and others were working round the clock to formalise the merger arrangement that produced the APC they have now hijacked.”

It added: “It is not surprising that these hijackers are bent on using every opportunity to de-market APC. When the gallant heroes of 2023 APC victory, the 19 Northern Governors were insisting that power should shift to the South to respect the power rotation principle, Arodiogbu and his godfather, Uzodimma, were busy trying to sabotage that noble plan.

“What Governor Uzodimma did in Edo State during the nullified governorship primary was true to type in his penchant to create confusion and benefit from the damage to the greater number.”

The group, therefore, challenged Arodiogbu, who had defended Uzodimma over the conduct of the primary election in Edo State, to “contradict Okechukwu’s narratives that the authoritarianism displayed by Governor Uzodimma generated he Starhatred, rancour, malcontents and alienated APC membership before Peter Obi’s factor in South-East.”

The Star