APC stakeholders write Tinubu, reject Abia nominees for tertiary institution governing councils

The Abia APC Stakeholders Forum (AASF) has rejected the list of appointees from the state to the boards and governing councils of tertiary institutions.

On June 14, President Bola Tinubu approved the reconstitution of governing councils and boards for federal tertiary institutions in the country.

The forum said except for Henry Ikoh, a former minister of state for science and technology, and one Chijioke Ikpo, others appointed to the governing councils are not members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a letter addressed to the president, the group demanded that the names of appointees, excluding Ikoh and Ikpo, be withdrawn.

The APC stakeholders claimed that appointees did not support Tinubu’s election in 2023 but worked against the party in the state.

“We write with the greatest sense of apprehension as concerned members of the Abia APC Stakeholders Forum (AASF) to inform Mr. President that the recent list published for appointments and nominations into the various governing boards and councils of tertiary institutions in Nigeria defeats the intendment and purpose for party loyalty and political participation,” the letter reads.

“Your Excellency, it is important to draw your most revered attention to the fact that the entire list of over 555 persons nominated into the various boards and councils of tertiary institutions in Nigeria has only 2 nominees from Abia State who are members of the Abia State Chapter of the All-Progressives Congress (APC), to wit: Chief Henry Ikoh and Barrister Chijioke Ikpo.

“It is equally important to inform your good office that the other nominees are either members of the Labour Party or the Peoples Democratic Party and not our party members.

“Sir, it may be of interest to note that these nominees are the same people who scorned us during the 2023 electioneering campaigns and stood against our victory in the state, removing the billboards of the President and destroying campaign materials across the entire state.

“Without sounding prolix, it is our position that the publication of the names of these non-party members as board appointees from Abia State in an APC-led government is, simply put, a vent of typographical errors or misprints.

“While we do not want to believe that those names appeared deliberately in the list published, we however regret to apprise Mr. President of the serious apprehension the publication has caused within the circles of the party hierarchy in the state.

“Against the backdrop of the foregoing, we hereby appeal to your good office, Your Excellency, to check the names of the nominees from Abia as published to ascertain the party affiliation and loyalty of these individuals and make the necessary corrections.

“Instructively, Mr. President, please kindly note, sir, that the present situation, if not properly addressed and resolved, may stifle the growth of the All-Progressives Congress in the State while equipping the opposition to win the 2027 general election.

“Sir, without sounding disrespectful to you and other distinguished leaders of our great party, the APC, Abia State Chapter, hereby rejects the nominees who are not our members and pleads that in the overall interest of the party in Abia State, these nominees should be withdrawn or removed.”

The group said if the names of the appointees are not withdrawn, they will be “reaping where they did not sow”.

The letter was signed by Chijioke Chukwu, convener and former minority leader of the Abia house of assembly; Anderson Akaliro, member representing Umuahia north state constituency; Emeka Okoroafor, former deputy minority leader of the assembly; and Mike Ukoha, ex-minority whip.

Others are Ejike Chukwu, Umunneochi state constituency, and Blessing Adokiye in Ukwa west LGA.