…Says nothing wrong with political espionage
A former presidential aide and APC chieftain, Okoi Obono-Obla,
has revealed how the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) allegedly used political espionage and legal tactics in attempts to stop the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013.
Okoi Obono-Obla, who served as legal counsel during the party’s formation, made these revelations on his social media handle in response to claims by African Democratic Congress (ADC) spokesman Bolaji Abdullahi about APC’s alleged infiltration of opposition parties.
“There is nothing wrong with political espionage by a political party to neutralize what a rival political party is planning. Politics is a soft warfare using guile, intelligence, strategy, and anything to destabilise your opponent. When we were forming the APC, we experienced a lot of infiltration and plots staged by the Federal Government, which was then controlled by the PDP”, Obono-Obla stated.
He specifically addressed ADC’s Bolaji Abdullahi, saying: “Bolaji Abdullahi was not involved, so he would not know what the leaders of APC then passed through. I read the bitter grumbling of Bolaji Abdullahi, the Spokesman of the crisis-ridden African Democratic Congress (ADC), that the APC had infiltrated the ADC to stabilize it. Bolaji Abdullahi and his master waited until 2014 to join the APC—one year after its formation.”
Chief Obono-Obla detailed one of the most significant attempts to stop the party’s registration, involving one Ugochukwu Chinyere.
“I remember how the PDP used Ugochukwu Chinyere to nearly scuttle the registration of APC with INEC. After APC had submitted its application for registration, Ugochukwu Chinyere quickly rushed to the Federal High Court, Abuja, to file an application for mandamus against INEC registering APC on the ground that the acronym APC conflicted with that of another political association known as the African Peoples Congress (APC). However, since the facts of the case were hinged on quicksand, the case was thrown out.”
Obono-Obla also revealed another alleged attempt to sabotage the merger through internal divisions within the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), one of the parties that formed APC. “Another attempt to scuttle the merger was hatched by a renegade faction of the defunct CPC led by Senator Hanga. Senator Hanga was the pro tem Chairman of CPC. In December 2010, he resigned to pave the way for the election of the substantive National Executive Committee of the CPC.”
He explained how Senator Hanga’s actions allegedly threatened the merger: “Surprisingly, in 2013, when the merger talks were already going on, he filed a case in the High Court claiming that he was the authentic National Chairman of the CPC and that he, not Prince Tony Momoh, was the only one who could decide whether the CPC should merge. He claimed to be the competent authority to take such a decision on behalf of the CPC. However, Senator Hanga and his faction lost the case. I was counsel in the case for CPC.”
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