The Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has issued a 24-hour ultimatum to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South, to clarify his alleged links with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) or face disciplinary action.
The ultimatum was contained in a statement released after the party’s caucus meeting in Umuahia on Tuesday night. APGA accused Abaribe of sidelining the party’s leadership after securing his Senate seat on its platform and allegedly promoting ADC in recent meetings held at his event centre in Aba.
The statement signed by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Chukwuemeka Nwokoro, alleged that Abaribe convened meetings on August 18 and September 23, where he tilted towards ADC. The party claimed the Abia ADC Secretary had publicly described Abaribe as not only a member but also a leader of ADC in the state, an assertion the Senator has not denied.
APGA said: “Extant laws governing political party membership in Nigeria forbid a person to belong to two different political parties at the same time, thus Senator Abaribe cannot belong to APGA and ADC simultaneously. His actions amount to a gross violation of APGA’s constitution.”
The party directed Abaribe to issue a public statement refuting the allegations through both print and electronic media, warning that failure to comply would attract immediate sanctions.
In response, Abaribe’s media aide, Uchenna Awom, dismissed the ultimatum, saying the party was acting on rumours without verifying facts.
“Senator Abaribe is alive. As APGA leader in Abia, the party has all the channels to access him. They don’t need to rely on rumours. Has he communicated to them that he has left APGA? They should stop acting on subterfuge,” Awom said.
Senator Abaribe, a former Senate Minority Leader, was first elected into the National Assembly in 2007 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he secured three re-elections before defecting to APGA in 2023 to retain his seat for a fifth term.
