JUST IN: Police Confirms Removal Of Delta APC Ward Congress C’ttee Chairman, Declares Two Others ‘Fugitives’

The Delta State Police Command has confirmed report that the All Progressives Congress, APC, Ward and Local Government Congress committee chairman sent to Delta state, Alhaji Sani Dododo has been removed and replaced by Emmanuel Chindah, an ally to the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi.

BigPen Online can report that the police confirmation is coming on the backdrop of wide speculations that Dododo was removed over unilaterally announcing the ward congress result of the party held on Saturday last week.

According to the police, it was actually the Secretary of the Committee, Mr Usman Kutugi and a member, Mr Kasheem Mamoud who were allegedly ‘compromised’ and had absconded from the state after the Saturday May 5 Congress in all the 25 local government area of the state.

State Commissioner for Police, CP Muhammad A. Mustafa in a statement on Thursday said that Kutugi and Mamoud who served as Committee Secretary and member respectively, compromised their responsibilities.

He said, “a case of Conspiracy and Stealing of the Congress sensitive materials has been established against them”.

Mustafa said that the police are searching for the “principal suspects in order to bring them all to book”.

He said that security report show that the Secretary of the Ward Congress and the member were ‘bought over’ to compromise the process and outcome of the exercise by some unscrupulous elements in the state.

According to the police chief, investigation by the police revealed that upon the sudden disappearance of the duo, Chairman of the Congress Committee, Alhaji Sani Dododo, “applied the doctrine of necessity to collate the result from all the wards in the presence of the State Party Chairman, Jones Erue Odeh and all other stakeholders involved in the exercise and declared the result on Monday 7th May, 2018”.

He said that police investigation stemmed from a complaint filed against one Azeez Ali Austine, alleging suspected kidnapping amongst other offences.

According to him, from the statement, the Chairman, Alhaji Sani Dododo had believed that his Secretary and member were kidnapped by the said Austine and sensitive election materials also stolen by him.

Consequent upon this assumption, the police boss continue, Dododo and a member of the local organising committee of the party, Arc. Nd Ajiduah filed a complaint at the command headquarters, seeking to rescue the Secretary and member from the assumed kidnapper and also bring him to book for the materials which he was believed to have stolen.

However, the police said from their findings, a case of kidnapping could not be established against Azeez Ali Austine , rather a case of conspiracy and stealing can be established against him, Kutugi and Mamoud who are at large.

Declaring the duo as ‘fugitives’, he said that they both allegedly signed and presented to the National Working Committee a parallel congress report which may have been collated in Rivers State with the missing ward congress results and other sensitive materials.

“In the light of the above, the Police Command opined that the suspect, Mr Azeez Ali Austine who was later arrested will be released on bail to a reliable surety while the search of the principal suspects continues in order to bring them to book”, the police chief added.

However, reacting to the development, an APC chieftain wondered why Dododo who purportedly laid the compliant and was ‘responsible and alive to his duties’ as a Chairman of the committee, was hurriedly removed and replaced.

According to him, the removal may still be the handwork of those who ‘bought over’ the Secretary and member and stole the sensitive materials, calling on the national leadership of the party and other critical stakeholders to urgently wade into the matter to prevent a looming breakdown of law and order in Delta state APC.

But contrary to the police report, former Abia State military administrator and APC chieftain in the state, AVM Frank Ajobena (rtd), leader of APC Delta North, Chief Hyacinth Enuha and Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, an APC governorship aspirant, speaking separately in a telephone conversation with one of our correspondents  commended the NWC for their decisive to replace Alhaji Sani Dododo.

Against the police report, Ajobena was quoted to have said; “from all indication, the chairman was highly compromised, it’s as simple as that; he cannot be part of a committee and be working separately from other members of the committee.

“He was hijacked by the Delta State APC chairman who already had declared his position by aligning with renegade group in the state, and that is my view of what has happened.

“As far as we are concerned, these people have been working behind the scene, compiling list and using unorthodox channels to create confusion in the state”, the former Air Vice Marshal said.

In the same vein, Engr. Hyacinth Enuha said that the action of sacked chaitman was a deliberate call for crisis within the party and a gross violation of the congress guidelines.

He maintained that the guidelines as released by the NWC has no ambiguity, wondering the reason behind such violation by covertly going solo to announce the purported results outside the knowledge of other members of his team.

He said, “What Alhaji Dododo did is a deliberate call for crisis within our great party but those of us who had laboured so hard to hold the party together will not allow another or any form of crisis at a time like this.

Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, an APC governorship aspirant stated that good thing about Dododo removal is that the APC is growing in Delta and the fight is an internal fight among brothers and sisters, stressing that the party will emerge from this fight stronger.

According to Ojougboh; “the good thing is that the APC is a party of rule of law, the law has been applied judiciously, everybody must now come together and corporate with the new chairman, so that the Saturday LGA congress would go smoothly and that APC as a party of progressives, everybody with ambition should pursue their ambition without fear or favour and legitimately.

“Nobody should be engaged in trying to bribe or hijack congress officials, so that this party can grow the way it is growing in lips and bounds,” he added.

BigPen Online recalls that Dododo had announced the results of the 270 wards of the 25 local government areas of the state at the Party’s State Secretariat in Asaba, on Monday, allegedly without the inputs of other 5 committee members and recourse to the party guideline for the conduct of the congress.

Story by Julius Eras-Olabowu