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The All Progressive
Grand Alliance (APGA), on Wednesday, demanded the removal of the
Secretary to the Independent National Electoral Commissioner, Abdullahi
Kaugama and one of its commissioners Philip Umeadi over their alleged
roles in the lingering crisis in the party.

According to a
communiqué signed by its National Secretary, Bello Umar after its
National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja, APGA said that in
May 2009, Mr Kaugama wrote a letter confirming Mr Okorie as the
national chairman of the party pending the final determination of the
disputes between the two factions, but turned around in August this
year, in another letter, to declare Victor Umeh as the chairman. The
NEC also alleged that Mr Umeadi misled the commission when he used his
capacity as commissioner in charge of legal matters to lie to the
public that the courts had established Mr Umeh as the then national
chairman when no court made such pronouncement. It added that Mr Umeadi
usurped the powers of the Edo and Ondo States Resident Electoral
Commissioners (REC) when he announced the results of the gubernatorial
elections in the two states in Abuja contrary to the provisions of the
Electoral Act. The committee said it has through its National Working
Committee (NWC) written a petition to the President Goodluck Jonathan,
the Senate President, David Mark and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Dimeji Bankole to demand the removal of the two INEC
officials from office.

A Federal High
Court sitting in Abuja had, on November 23, declared the party
leadership headed by Chekwas Okorie as the authentic one. The court
also declared that the party’s 2009 national convention was in order.

Time for primaries

The NEC has
approved a timetable for the conduct of party congresses and primaries,
which will end with a national convention on January 15, 2011 where the
candidates will be ratified.

According to the
timetable, both the governorship and presidential primaries will hold
January 12 while hearing on the appeals arising from the exercises have
been fixed for January 14.

The committee also
approved N10 million as nomination fee to be paid by presidential
aspirants and N5 million by governorship aspirants.

Other categories
approved are senatorial aspirants N1m; House of Representative
N500,000.00; State House of Assembly N200,000.00; local government
chairmanship N250,000.00 and Councillorship N20,000.00. Women aspirants
are to be excluded from paying the fees.

He however, sympathised with aspirants who had paid nomination fees
to the Umeh faction but said “I assure all genuine aspirants who wish
to contest elections in the 2011 general elections and various local
government elections on the platform of our great party of a
level-playing field without prejudice or discrimination whatsoever.”
All attempts to reach Kayode Idowu, spokesperson to the INEC chairman
failed.