Pro-Buhari group loses out in IPAC election as Peter Ameh becomes national chairman

The election into various offices at the Inter-Party Advisory Council
(IPAC), ended Wednesday evening in Abuja, in a tension-soaked
atmosphere.

IPAC, the umbrella body of the 91 registered political parties in
Nigeria, had fixed Wednesday, 5th September, 2018, to elect leaders
that would pilot the affairs of the council till the next one year.

It was, however, gathered that powerful interests came to play as
leaders of some political parties, believed to belong to pro-Buhari
group allegedly came out with unity list to accommodate their members.

The other faction, known as 'Transformation group' led by Chief Peter
Ameh and Ikenga Ugochinyere, also formed a rival unity list of
members.

The National Electoral Institute, venue for the congress was tensed
for some minutes, over an alarm that the process was about to be
hijacked by the 'power-that-be'.

With the help of security personnel on ground, the tension was brought
under control and the election saw the emergence of the members in the
counter unity list emerging with clear leading votes against the
pro-government group.

National chairman, Progressive People's Alliance (PPA), Chief Peter
Ameh, eventually emerged the national chairman of IPAC, by defeating
Chief Chekwas Okorie of the United People's Party (UPP) by 51 votes to
28.

The results of the elections was announced by the IPAC, electoral
committee chairman, Yunusa Tanko.

Other candidates elected by delegates at the election included: Geff
Ojinika, deputy national chairman; Georgina Dakpokpo, national
secretary; Eunice Atuejie, deputy national secretary, and Okey
Chikwendu, national treasurers.

Others are: Olusegun Peters, national financial secretary; Ikenga
Ugochinyere, national publicity secretary; Hamisu Santuraki, national
organising secretary and Kenneth Udeze, national legal adviser, all of
the transformation group.

Chief Ameh, in his acceptance speech, however, pledged to unite the
body and work with all members.

He said the core values of IPAC will be brought to fore in the
discharge of its duties.

The national chairman, Nigeria Community Movement Party (NCMP),
Ademola Abidemi, described the election as victory for the nation's
democracy.

"This shows that ordinary Nigerians can gain victory for leadership
positions without godfathers in 2019," he added.