How Covid-19 Palliatives Cost Chief Joe Igbokwe Apex Leader Position In APC

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

Facts have emerged on how State palliatives eventually affected the position of Chief  Joe Igbokwe, Special Adviser for Drainage and Water Resourc­es to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the Apex Leader of the Igbo indigenes in the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State. 

P.M.EXPRESS reports that Chief Igbokwe was removed and immediately replaced with Hon. Jude Idimogu, the lawmaker representing Oshodi/Isolo Constituency 2 at the Lagos State House of Assembly.
This was disclosed by the Eze Ndigbo, and Chairman of Council of ethnic traditional rulers in Lagos State, Eze Christian C. Nwachukwu, who stated that Igbokwe had been warned several times and his removal was irrevocable as the Apex Leader of the ethnic group for the betterment and ad­vancement of the course of Igbo people.

Nwa­chukwu stated that Igbokwe had not advanced the course of the ethnic group since he took over the exalted position for over two decades, stress­ing that they have found a better leader in Hon Jude Idimogu, who has accepted to lead the Igbo with high sense of responsibility and humility.
He said, “Igbokwe has been the cause of the suspicion by other ethnic groups especially the Yorubas, who think we are not voting for the party during elections due to his poor and selfish arrangement aided by few individuals who are shortchanging the Igbo in Lagos State”. 
He explained that Igbokwe was always in the habit of dropping names of the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and that of sitting Governors to intimidate the Igbo people and yet he will not reach the grassroots to mobilize during the elections which had affected the number of votes garnered for APC during elections in the past.
He further explained that the decision to remove him was unanimous during a meeting held at Ohanaeze Secretariat which had in attendance representatives of Eze Ndigbo in the Local Government and State levels, Igbo community leaders and other stakeholders. It was at the meeting that they stressed that the leader­ship of Igbokwe had not been beneficial to the ethnic group, which had in turn portrayed the people as anti-APC.
He said that the final woes that led to the decision to remove him was the alleged secret dirty deal involving Igbokwe, Chief Uche Dimgba, Chris Ekwilo and few others to divert all the palliatives meant for the less privileged people, which they allegedly shared among themselves and their cronies. He said on the contrary, Hon. Jude Idimogu was busy during that period spending his money on palliatives for the less privileged all through the lockdown.
“Igbokwe, Dimgba, Ekwilo cannot be classfiied as less privileged but due to greed and wickedness, they diverted the palliatives and shared among themselves to the detrimental of poor people, while I was busy with some well meaningful Igbo people spending our money to cushion the effect of the lockdown on the less privileged.”

Eze Nwachukwu stated that the decision to remove Igbokwe was reached by the whole Igbo people in Lagos APC and it is binding on all and so Hon. Idimogu has no choice than to lead Ndigbo as preparations for the 2023 elections gear up.
Efforts to speak with Chief Igbokwe proved abortive as his known number was not available. Hon. Jude Idimogu could not be reached when P.M.EXPRESS visited his home as he was said to have gone out to share palliative packages to his constituents.

There has been reactions since the removal of Igbokwe was made public. Majority of the Igbo people who spoke welcome the development, saying it was good to restore the confidence and trust built over the years between Igbo and Yoruba people, which was badly damaged during his leadership. But few people, like Chief Chris Ekwilo, disagreed saying the removal should not have been done at Ohanaeze Secretariat.