By Gabriel Enogholase

BENIN—THE crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Edo State, has taken a new twist as the state Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Mr. Saturday Uwuleikhue and some members of the party in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of the state, have suspended the party’s chairman in the council, Mr. Matthew  Ehigie, for alleged anti-party activities.

However, Mr. Ehigie has described his purported suspension as laughable, insisting that they did not follow the due process of suspending an elected member.

At an enlarged meeting of the party executives held at the party’s secretariat, he said: “As I speak to you, I remain the party chairman for Orhionmwon council because they did not follow due process of suspending an elected chairman.”

He alleged that the signatories to the suspension order do not only lack the power to call  a meeting of the council executive  but that they were financially induced.

However, attempts to reach for Uwuleikhue for reaction failed. A terse message through his GSM phone said that he was very busy and that the reporter should call later.

In a resolution, 20 executive members out of the 35 members passed implicit confidence in the leadership of the council Chairman, Chief Ehigie.

Vanguard gathered that the ongoing  crisis was believed to have been triggered off by the wrangling in the party on who succeeds Governor Adams Oshiomhiole at the expiration of his tenure in November.

In a related development, 100 party faithful from ward 1 Esan Central Local Government also stormed the state party secretariat to protest the suspension of the ward chairman, Mr. Isaac Ikhine, describing the development as unconstitutional

They accused the state party chairman, Mr Aslem Ojezua, of being a stooge to some party chieftains in the locality that plotted to unseat the ward chairman and declared the purported suspension null and void.