On Monday, the national executive council of the National Rescue Movement (NRM) suspended the national chairman, Isaac Ude and two others over alleged breaches and violations of the party constitution and financial impropriety.

The two other suspended national officers are the deputy national chairmen, Lawson Ihigwe (South) and Salisu Dawaki (North).

The three national leaders were suspended and referred to the NRM investigation panel following a report of the party National Management Committee presented at the NEC meeting in Abuja.

The NMC report was signed by eight members and read by the NRM acting national secretary, Obidike Okolo.

Mr Okolo accused Mr Udeh of unilaterally endorsing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2023 presidential election.

He said the suspended national chairman was also accused of sabotaging the party by going behind to demand money from political parties NRM discussed forming an alliance.

Mr Okolo also alleged that Mr Udeh refused to call for an NWC meeting as stipulated in the party’s constitution, even after several demands by members.

He said all efforts by the NMC to get Mr Udeh to clarify the allegations proved abortive as he refused to appear before the committee on invitations sent to him. He said that based on that, the NMC recommended that Mr Udeh’s immediate suspension and referred to the panel of inquiry already set up by the NMC to investigate the allegations.

“The national chairman cannot preside over the affairs of the party while he is being investigated so that he will not interfere with the investigations while he will be afforded a fair hearing by the panel. Furthermore, NMC has reasons to believe that the two deputy national chairmen (North and South) are complicit in the above-mentioned constitutional violations either by omission, commission, or negligence.

“Accordingly, NMC recommends that the two national deputy chairmen be suspended and referred to the investigative panel for investigation,” he said.

The recommendation was unanimously accepted through a voice vote, and Mr Udeh was suspended, while the national welfare secretary, Chinedu Obi, was immediately elected as the party’s acting national chairman.

(NAN)