The Ebonyi State chapter of the National Rescue Movement (NRM) has accused its 2023 governorship candidate, Comrade Tony Usulor, of using the party’s name and structure to seek political relevance and patronage from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration in the state ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Key Highlights
- Ebonyi NRM rejects Tony Usulor’s claim of collapsing its structure into APC.
- Party says Usulor abandoned NRM activities after the 2023 governorship election.
- NRM chairman Ogodo Stanley says Usulor has no mandate to speak for the party.
- Party acknowledges Usulor’s right to defect to APC but rejects claims of NRM defection.
- NRM challenges Usulor to identify its current state, LGA and ward executives.
- Party warns against using the NRM name to negotiate political patronage ahead of 2027.
The party made its position known in a statement issued by its State Chairman, Hon. Ogodo Stanley, on behalf of the state executive officers, stakeholders and members.
Ogodo described as false, baseless and politically motivated a claim attributed to Usulor that he had collapsed the NRM structure in Ebonyi State into the APC.
According to the chairman, Usulor abandoned the activities of the party after the 2023 general elections and therefore lacked the political or organisational mandate to speak for, restructure or claim ownership of the NRM in the state.
“You cannot collapse what you abandoned,” Ogodo said, stressing that Usulor’s former position as the party’s governorship candidate did not confer permanent authority over its structures, membership or leadership.
NRM Says Usulor Abandoned Party After 2023
Ogodo said the NRM had continued to reorganise its structures, update its membership and conduct internal elections since the 2023 elections.
He claimed that Usulor had not participated in the party’s activities during the period and could not identify its current leadership at the state, local government and ward levels.
“Since after the 2023 election, Usulor has not participated in our party activities. We have conducted elections and put in place our structures at the state, local government and ward levels. He does not know the current executive members at these levels,” Ogodo said.
The NRM chairman described any claim that Usulor had collapsed the party’s structure into the APC as “political fiction”, insisting that the NRM remained an independent political organisation governed by its constitution and recognised leadership.
Ebonyi NRM Accuses Ex-Candidate of Seeking APC Patronage
Ogodo further accused Usulor of attempting to use the NRM name as a bargaining tool in his political engagement with the APC-led government in Ebonyi State.
“We are concerned that somebody who abandoned the party since 2023 would suddenly emerge to claim that he has collapsed the entire NRM structure into the ruling APC. He should not use the name of NRM to negotiate for political favour or patronage ahead of the future elections,” he said.
The chairman, however, acknowledged Usulor’s constitutional right to join another political party.
He maintained that such a decision would be personal and could not be presented as the takeover, merger or dissolution of the NRM structure in Ebonyi State.
“If Tony Usulor has chosen to join the APC, that is his constitutional right. But defection is not acquisition, and personal supporters are not the same thing as the recognised structure of the NRM,” Ogodo said.
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NRM Challenges Usulor to Identify Party Executives
The NRM chairman challenged Usulor to identify the current state executive members, local government chairmen and ward executives if he genuinely had control of the party structure.
“He should tell Nigerians the names of the current NRM state executive members, the local government chairmen and the ward executives. He cannot identify them because he has not been part of the party’s activities and structures since 2023,” Ogodo said.
He stressed that individuals who voluntarily followed Usulor into the APC could not be equated with the recognised structure of the NRM in Ebonyi State.
‘NRM Is Not Anybody’s Personal Political Estate’
Ogodo warned that the party would not allow its name, identity or organisational structure to be used by any individual for personal political negotiations.
“NRM is not anybody’s personal political estate. It belongs to its members and is governed by its constitution and recognised structures. Nobody can appropriate the party’s identity simply because he was once a candidate,” he said.
He urged members of the public, political parties, government officials and media organisations to disregard claims that Usulor currently speaks for or controls the NRM in Ebonyi State.
The chairman reaffirmed the commitment of the state leadership, stakeholders and members to strengthening the party’s structures and advancing its political interests in line with its constitution.
Ogodo also urged Usulor to pursue his political ambitions under whatever platform he had chosen without involving the NRM’s identity and structures in what he described as personal political negotiations.
“Go wherever you choose to go, but do not use NRM to negotiate for yourself. You cannot collapse what you abandoned, and you cannot claim ownership of a structure you no longer belong to,” Ogodo declared.
