Olorogun John Nani, Chairman of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, has dismissed reports that the party’s Ethiope West Local Government Area Congress was disrupted by violence.
Speaking in a phone interview with NewsNet Nigeria on Saturday evening, Nani described the congress as peaceful, orderly, and concluded by consensus among accredited delegates.
According to him, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and members of the APC Congress Team deployed from Asaba were fully on ground throughout the exercise.
“There was no disruption. INEC officials and party officers sent by the party conducted the congress. Everything went peacefully,” Nani said.
The APC congress was held at Ovade-Oghara in Ethiope West Local Government Area and was supervised by a team led by Hon. John Idogun and Mr. Kingsley Edafiadjebre.
At the end of the exercise, Clement Okorodide emerged as the new Chairman of the APC in Ethiope West LGA through a consensus arrangement endorsed by party stakeholders present.
Nani, a former member of the Delta State House of Assembly who represented Ethiope West Constituency, explained that access to the congress venue was strictly restricted to delegates produced from the earlier ward congresses, in line with APC guidelines.
He further clarified that what was later described in some reports as a “disruption” stemmed from an attempt to enforce these accreditation rules.
According to Nani, the House of Representatives member for Ethiope Federal Constituency, Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, allegedly arrived at the congress venue with supporters, who were not accredited delegates, and attempted to gain entry.
He alleged that efforts were made to force entry into the venue, but party officials and security personnel resisted the move in order to safeguard the process.
Nani maintained that the situation was quickly contained and that no violence occurred within the congress grounds, insisting that the incident was subsequently misinterpreted as a disruption of the congress.
“All the accredited delegates went in, the consensus was reached, and the congress was concluded successfully,” he said.
He added that all major stakeholders of the party in Ethiope West were present and participated in the process, except the federal lawmaker, stressing that the outcome reflected the collective decision of party delegates in the local government area.
