Deputy National Chairman (North), All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Lawal Shuaibu says many members were considering quitting the party.
He made the claim in a Wednesday statement in Abuja.
According to him, National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has continued to demonstrate a lack of transparency in the build-up to the party’s governorship primaries in Ondo and Edo states..
He further alleged that Oshiomhole’s resort to illegalities has turned the party into a “nest of lawlessness”, describing the former Edo governor as a “politically injured person” seeking revenge.
Shuaibu stressed that despite his letter of May 28, 2019 warning Oshiomhole about the landmines he was laying for himself and the APC, the party leadership has continued to act in breach of all relevant laws.
He noted that this has left many party members perplexed and disillusioned while some were weighing their options whether to leave the party.
“With regards to Ondo and Edo primary elections, there is already absence of transparency. The regulations issued that will guide the processes are already in violation of Article 20 (v) on page 76 of the APC constitution as amended where only the National Executive Committee is the only organ that SHALL approve such guidelines and regulations which includes the mode of nominating our candidates. I am crying for APC inside me!
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“Majority of the members of the party are already perplexed, disillusioned and some even weighing their options. A stitch in time, I believe, saves nine!
“Article 2 of the APC Constitution provides that Subject to the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and any other laws for the time being in force in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the provisions of this constitution SHALL be SUPREME PROVIDED that where any rule, regulation or any other enactment shall, to the extent of its inconsistency, be null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
“This document leaves no room for any form of aberration or brigandage.
“In the light of the above, I call on leaders of APC to urgently intervene to ensure the provisions of the Party constitution are adhered to and not further compromised.
“Let me state categorically that I have no political ambition beyond where I find myself and my interest, if I may state, is borne out of genuine intention to save the Party I laboured to build,” Shuaibu said.
He queried: “what are the leaders of the Party doing in the midst of this anarchy? Are they all equally fed up with the seeming collapsing party in the hands of a politically injured person that seems to be nursing political revenge? The leaders need to take a stand so that the followers know whether the party is now either a jungle or that entity of our collective dream at the inception.”
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Shuaibu flayed the recent appointment of Arc. Waziri Bulama as APC National Secretary, saying that the APC constitution did not allow for the appointment of a national officer of the party by the Chairman or the National Working Committee (NWC).
“Not even NEC has the power to appoint any National officer of the Party in any capacity. Let me ask this simple question, what is difficult in organizing a mid term convention to elect the officers in line with the constitution so that even the officers will have confidence that they are elected like all other officers. The constitution of the the Party in Article 25 (A) (1) page 89 stipulates that there shall be a convention every two years. We had convention in 2018 and another one is due in 2020. What is the hurry in appointing an acting National secretary when we have the duly elected Deputy National Secretary who have been acting in that capacity since December 2018 in line with Article 14.4 of the Constitution on page 58?
“All NWC Officers have Offices of their deputies to take charge of that office in the absence of the Principal, in consonance with article 14 of the constitution in its entirety. But what is happening to this Constitutional provision? Does it have a different legal interpretation? The self-imposed and the National Publicity Secretary, in a press statement stated that the National Working Committee had appointed an acting National Secretary. How do you appoint? Are we still running a party with rules and regulations? This is now the pattern in the Party. Let me state unequivocally that any nomination signed by such acting National Secretary is a nullity and liable to be challenged by the opposition. Are we deaf and blind? Or is the Chairman finally out to inter the Party?” Shuaibu queried.