19 Members of the 27-Member Executive Committee (EXCO) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ewu, Ward 8, Esan Central LGA, Friday, 10 May 2024, impeached their former Chairman, Mr Awo Jatto.
For four years, Mr Awo Jatto, divided the party in the Ward, frustrating out and humiliating majority of the important stakeholders in the Ward, and failing to win any election in the Ward since he became Chairman nearly four years ago.
Among the signatories among the 19 Ward Exco that signed the Impeachment included the Vice Chairman, the Secretary, the Financial Secretary, the Women Leader, the Youth Leader, the Asst Youth Leader, the Welfare, the Auditor, among others.
The courageous Impeachment was carried out after 21 Members earlier suspended the former Chairman for three months, since February 11, 2024, to give him opportunity to apologise, make amends, return embezzled funds and unite the party. But the impeached former chairman failed to serve the disciplinary action.
The Exco Members, meeting at their Party Secretariat, following strictly the provisions of Article 21 of the APC Constitution which empowered the Ward Exco to remove an erring party official in the Ward by minimum of 18 (two third majority), impeached their former Chairman. The Exco listed several offences which the impeached former chairman committed against the party, which included misappropriation of funds, dereliction of duty, factionalisation of party, and more.
The Ward Vice Chairman, Mr Adamu Wahab, also known as “Ewu’s Balogun”, was unanimously affirmed to replace the impeached Chairman. Mr Adamu Wahab, an original APC Member from the very beginning, from the royal town of Eguare-Ewu, accepted his new role and pledged to reunite and expand the party in Ewu, helping to assure victory for the APC in all future elections. To demonstrate his resolve, the new Chairman led the whole Exco to pay a unity meeting to Chief Priest Francis Ubene, a member of the Monday Okpebholo / Dennis Idahosa (APC) Campaign Committee, former LGA Party Chairman, and former Esan Central LGA Council Vice Chairman who the impeached former Chairman, for four years, had excluded from the Party in the Ward.
The new Chairman told Chief Ubene and his teeming followers that the Party in the Ward is now ready to bury the hatchet and work together as one having removed “the bad tooth”. He told the gathering that a new lease of life has come to the Ward 8 after four years of pointless division. He thanked Leader Saintmoses Eromosele, who led the Ward well to end the crisis he inherited, for making huge sacrifices for the Ward that ultimately led to the Unity and Expansion of the Party which had eluded the Ward for four years.
Mr Eromosele said his objective in accepting the Leadership of the Ward last year was to help to end the protracted crisis and position the APC for growth and winning ways. He offered to step aside and pronounced Chief Francis Ubene as the Leader of the Ward, ending a four year old crisis that disseminated the Ward.