APC wades into Anambra crisis, warns division could cost party 2027 elections

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: The National Working Committee NWC of the All Progressives Congress APC has waded into the leadership crisis rocking the Anambra State chapter of the party, convening a stakeholders’ engagement in Abuja aimed at reconciling aggrieved members and restoring order ahead of the 2027 general election.

The engagement, held on Thursday in Abuja, was chaired by the National Deputy Chairman (South) of the APC, Dr Benjamin Obi Nwoye, who doubles as Chairman of the party’s Fact-Finding and Reconciliation Committee constituted to investigate the crisis.

“Let every member remember that the broom is meaningful only when its strands are bound together. A scattered broom cannot sweep; a divided party cannot win,” Nwoye said.

Nwoye told the gathering that the committee’s mandate was to identify the immediate and remote causes of the leadership crisis in the Anambra State chapter, engage all relevant stakeholders, reconcile aggrieved members, and recommend measures that would deliver a peaceful, credible and lasting resolution.

He listed the issues giving rise to the crisis as the alleged removal of elected party officials at different levels, the alleged removal of names of primary election winners and their replacement with persons who never participated in or won the polls, the practice of taking the party to court without exhausting internal dispute and grievance resolution mechanisms, and the expulsion of party leaders and members without fair hearing.

Nwoye also pointed to deeper concerns fuelling the disorder, including the struggle for influence ahead of future elections, perceptions of marginalisation, inadequate communication between leaders and members, weak enforcement of party discipline, and alleged interference with elected party structures and candidate nomination processes.

He acknowledged that previous reconciliation attempts by party elders, state leaders, national officers and other stakeholders had not fully succeeded, noting that reconciliation could not work where parties came to the table only to defend positions rather than search for solutions. He said the current engagement had to be different, warning against superficial peace that leaves bitterness intact behind closed doors.

Nwoye stressed that the purpose of party politics was to organise citizens around ideas, candidates and governance programmes in order to win elections and deliver public service, not to serve as a theatre for endless quarrel. He said every hour spent on internal hostility was an hour lost in voter engagement, and every press statement attacking a fellow party member became campaign material for opponents.

He linked the reconciliation drive directly to the 2027 general election and the next governorship contest in Anambra State, describing peace-building as an electoral necessity rather than a mere emotional appeal.

According to him, the party also bore responsibility for explaining and delivering the mandate of President Bola Tinubu and the Renewed Hope agenda, a task he said could not be discharged by a divided state chapter.

While calling for forgiveness and teamwork among warring factions, Nwoye cautioned that reconciliation should not be mistaken for weakness, warning that the national leadership would not hesitate to discipline any recalcitrant member who persisted in conduct capable of undermining party unity or serving as an agent of opposition interests in Anambra State.

He said the committee’s recommendations would be guided by the need for win-win outcomes that protect legitimate rights while preserving party discipline.

Also addressing the gathering, APC National Leader for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), Tolu Bankole, appealed to stakeholders to resolve their differences within hours, warning that Anambra could not afford to repeat the mistakes of the last election.

He recalled the contributions of Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, arguing that the state might already have produced a governor had stakeholders rallied around him after his emergence.

Bankole warned that continued division could cost the party the 2027 presidential election in the state and, ultimately, the party’s relevance in Anambra.

National Woman Leader of the APC, Mary Alile Idele, also lent her voice to the call for peace, telling stakeholders that reconciliation could never be mistaken for weakness and that the party’s mandate was to deliver victory for President Tinubu in 2027.

She said the committee members were not present to judge or apportion blames, but to listen and help chart a way forward, adding that private sessions could be arranged if necessary to resolve outstanding grievances.

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