Onyejeocha: Abia APC women group holds counter-protest

A group of the All Progressives Congress (APC) women in Abia, on Thursday, organised a peaceful protest to counter the Abuja version challenging the appointment of Mrs Nkeiruka Onyejeocha as Minister.

Onyejeocha, who was recently declared the rightful winner of the March 25 election for the Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency, was appointed the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity.

However, a group staged a protest at the APC Secretariat, Abuja recently against her appointment, alleging that she worked against President Bola Tinubu’s election.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some women operating under the aegis of Asiwaju Super Women, a pro-group, embarked on a counter-protest in Umuahia on Thursday in defence of Onyejeocha’s appointment.

The group, which took its protest to the party’s National Welfare Secretary, Chief Donatus Nwamkpa, described those behind the Abuja protest as “faceless”.

The Spokesperson and Umuahia North Coordinator of the group, Mrs Jane Ogbanta, said that those, who staged the Abuja protest, “were not Abia women but hired by their sponsors.”

She said they were agitated by the Abuja protest and “came to lay our complaints to Nwamkpa for onward transmission to the president and national leadership of APC”.

Ogbanta and other speakers, including Victoria Kalu and Ngozi Ogbuka, described Onyejeocha as most deserving of her ministerial appointment.

They described the former Deputy Whip of the House of Representatives, as a strong and committed party member and supporter of the president during the presidential election.

They said that she had worked hard in making APC strong in the state, adding that she made the party acceptable at the grassroots level.