– Accuses Him Of Anti-Party Activities
The leaders of Labour Party (LP) in Imo State have unanimously passed a vote of no confidence on the state Chairman, Barr Callistus Ihejiagwa for alleged anti party activities.
The members of the State Working Committee (SWC) in a letter they jointly signed and addressed to the National Leadership of the party accused Ihejiagwa of running the party as a personal enterprise.
They were also accused of unilaterally effecting changes in the membership of the State Working Committee without informing the leaders of the party, including Senator Athan Achonu who they described as the major financier of the party in the state.
He did not also inform the National Vice Chairman (South east). Neither were the State Secretary, Zonal Chairman and leaders of the party in the state informed. He, with impunity removed the local Government Area Chairman of Labour Party without informing the member representing his constituency in the Imo State House of Assembly. Ihejiagwa also changed the secretary of the Labour Party House of Representatives member without his consent. He unilaterally went to the National headquarters of the party to effect the changes with his boys”.
The letter addressed to the National Leadership of L.P reads in part, “ There is a great tension in the party now and must be handled immediately by his stepping down to avoid the disintegration of the party. The elected (Federal and State) House Members are at loggerheads with him, the major Stake Holders are not agreeing with him and the party faithful detest his Leadership style. Democracy is “by the people and for the people and not by one man for the others” and moreso when this is a political party. He stopped the Zonal Chairmen from convening Zonal Party meetings. He used his newly installed Public Relation Officer to issue a disclaimer against a duly scheduled Zonal Meeting attended by Labour Party House of Rep.and State House Members. Action must be taken now to stop him from killing the party.
The Party Chairman is an APC stooge. His actions and inactions indirectly and directly bolster and assist APC Imo State and that is why he continuously ensures there is crises in the party so that people will leave to APC. He is consistently “settled” by the APC Government. It is alleged he is on their payroll.
A case in hand is that, as present. The Imo State Labour Party Chairman, is in Israel performing a Pilgrimage on APC Government sponsored trip. How did he get his name into the list of Pilgrims sponsored by Tinubu Government when he is not of APC? Who put his name into the list? It was arranged such that an LP defector to APC is sponsoring it through the slot allocated by the Federal Government to Legislators to make it look as if it is private sponsorship. We have lost the moral burden of promoting the needed opposition of the APC Government as the by this his compromising pilgrimage.
He never told anybody including stakeholders, SWC and SEC. We cannot trust him again to lead us. The Imo State L.P. Chairman needs to be changed and an acting State Chairman appointed pending the congress. He is an APC member masquerading as a Labour Party die hard. He is a stooge and has compromised else LP is going on a wild goose chose in the forthcoming elections of 2027 as LP in the state is already sold. Mr. Chairman Sir, when a leader is accused, he steps aside for investigations.
To buttress our point, on the 6h of December,2024 while inaugurating the mobilization and integration unit of Labour Party during SEC Meeting and in defence of his master in the APC, Hon. Tochi Okere(LP Decampee)warmed everyone that no one should write about Hon.Okere’s decampment and that “WE SHOULD HOLD HIM (CALLISTUS IHEJIAGA) RESPONSIBLE”. Little wonder why he provided an avenue for him to be on the APC sponsored trip to Israel.
The State Chairman uses the Party’s finances as his personnel money. He brings up any bill and withdraws the party’s money at will. There is no accounts or proper auditing of expenses as the expenses are only by him and approved by him. No approval by the SWC. He uses executive powers to coerse people.
We do not know the state of our finances now and we understand that the generated finances has been seriously depleted. Only him runs all expenses and approved all monies. The SWC is not carried along. Only the Chairman receives alert form banks.
The Chairman is in constant violation or breach of the Party’s Constitution. He does not respect the constitutionally prescribed duties of every SWC member. He usurped the work/duties of everyone, the Zonal Chairmen, Organizing Secretary, Treasurer, Publicity Secretary, etc.
An example was during stakeholders meeting the Chairman brought the woman that supplied drinks, he brought the woman that cooked food and chicken, etc and determined the prices by himself. He directly went for and paid for the hall, decoration and music.
Another example was with the State Woman Leader; The National Woman Leader requested for a list of some women from Imo Labour Party from the Imo State Woman Leader, the Chairman from behind wrote a list of his friends and submitted to Abuja without informing the State Woman Leader. Can’t this create problems in the party. The Chairman does the work of the PRO, Zonal Chairman, Organizing Secretary, Treasurer, etc and doesn’t carry anyone along”.
