Indications have emerged as to why the crisis rocking the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is proving difficult to settle. The reason, going by feelers from the camp of factional chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, is because Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is the unseen force behind the group.

At a meeting held by his faction at the house of Chief Ifeanyi Udokwu (Ekwueme Ogidi) last Sunday, May 12, Umeh reportedly told those in attendance of how he in the company of Chief Ifeanyi Ubah and Chief Dan Ulasi recently met with the First Lady in her bedroom in Abuja. Sources close to the May 12 meeting attended by Akunwata Mike Kwentoh, Chief Ifeanyi Udokwu, ChiefDan Ulasi, and Chief Ifeanyi Ubah, among others, quoted Umeh as saying that the meeting held in the First Lady’s bedroom discussed the case at the Court of Appeal Awka which the faction had filed against the newly elected leadership of APGA headed by Chief Maxi Okwu.

Umeh was said to have spoken of how the First Lady allegedly informed them that the Acting President of the Appeal Court, Justice Zainab A. Bulkachuwa, is dependent on her and had agreed to help out as a condition for her being confirmed as the Substantive President of the Court.

Umeh said that to confirm that everything was under control, the First Lady immediately called Justice Bulkachuwa and put the phone on speaker for them to hear. He claimed that during the conversation, the First Lady told the Ag. Court President to ensure that judgment was delivered in the favour of Umeh’s faction despite the argument of Governor Peter Obi’s faction that the National Convention that produced the Okwu-led executive had been concluded before the court ruling. It was there, according to Umeh, that Her Justice assured that the case would be heard immediately and judgment delivered.

Umeh assured those at the May 12 meeting that the case would be concluded on the 24^th of this month and that the First Lady had started working on the Supreme Court on the case. He also boasted that he would produce the next Governor of Anambra State and remained committed to Ifeanyi Ubah’s candidature.

A source said that when the issue of the APGA-produced Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha’s decamping to the All Progressives Congress (APC) came up, they had to make a statement against him to be seen as not supporting him. He reportedly assured them that he remained in touch with Okorocha, saying: “You should not worry about Rochas and APC, we know what they are doing.”

•Photo shows Victor Umeh.