Members of the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress has charged APC leaders to call the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, to order.
This is as the NWC members accused Adamu of gagging and blackmailing them using the name of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
Their appeal was contained in a statement jointly signed by the North-West National Vice Chairman, Mallam Salihu Lukman and his South-West counterpart, Isaacs Kekemeke, on Tuesday.
The statement read, “The National Chairman takes decisions unilaterally. When it suits him, he invokes the name of our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari to blackmail NWC members into accepting his decisions.
“We are compelled to make this statement following serial postponement of the scheduled National Working Committee meetings, twice within 48 hours.
“We are convinced beyond doubt that this is a deliberate attempt to foist a fait accompli on the NWC on fundamental issues that affect our great party.
“Within just two months in the lifespan of the new leadership of our great party, APC, led by His Excellency, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, the NWC, organ of the party vested with the power of managing the day-to-day affairs, including implementing decisions of the National Executive Committee (NEC), as provided in Article 13.4 of the APC Constitution, has been rendered redundant.”
Lukman stated that efforts made to get the Chairman to respect the authority of the NWC as elected by the March 26 National Convention proved difficult.
Consequently, he stated that the committee has no option but to write to the party leaders.
“Note that NEC’s donation of its powers was to NWC and not to the National Chairman or any individual.
“We, therefore, have no option but to make this public appeal to all APC leaders to intervene please urgently to call our National Chairman, His Excellency, Abdullahi Adamu to order, immediately.
“The National Chairman must be properly reminded to recognise that the business of managing the day-to-day affairs of the party is the responsibility of the NWC as provided in provisions of the APC Constitution.
“He is free to consult any party leader(s). Such consultations will not represent decisions of the NWC or any organ of the party unless and until it is adopted by a properly constituted meeting of the NWC or organ in question according to the letters and spirit of the APC constitution.” He said.
He stated that they have suffered enough judicial embarrassments arising from clearly avoidable leadership breach of the party’s constitution and spelt out rules.
According to him, the NWC members have therefore served a notice to Adamu through the APC leaders that henceforth, any decision was taken by him or any other party functionary, which requires the approval of the NWC as enshrined in the APC constitution, will be considered illegitimate.
“We will also consider it as an infringement on the jurisdictional scope of the NWC, unless otherwise confirmed as validly approved decisions of the NWC or any other legitimate organ of the party.
“No NWC member is elected at the March 26, 2022, National Convention to warm seats or offices in the National Secretariat.
We, therefore, call on all our colleagues in the NWC to rise to these challenging situations by joining hands with us to save our great party and return it to its founding mission of moving Nigeria forward based on honest, fair, just and selfless commitment to party building,” he stated.
