The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress has told Governors elected on the platform of the party and other members of its National Executive Council to disregard the NEC meeting scheduled to hold on Thursday (today) with the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The NWC members said this in a statement by the APC acting National Secretary, Waziri Bulama, shortly after the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, declared support for Victor Giadom as the party’s acting National Chairman and promised to attend the NEC meeting on Thursday.
But the NWC, led by Senator Abiola Ajimobi, said in the statement by Bulama: “Our leader, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is renowned for insisting on compliance with our constitution and rule of law.
“It can, therefore, not be true that Mr President supports the convening of such an illegal NEC by a non-member of APC’s NWC. We urge all to disregard the said notice as neither the NWC nor the NEC has called for such meeting.
“We are constrained to once again react to a purported invitation to a National Executive Committee meeting of our great party; the All Progressives Congress, issued by one Victor Giadom who until the last general elections in 2019 held the position the deputy national secretary of the party.
“Our esteemed members are advised to disregard this invitation because the author and sole signatory of the said invitation is not a member of the National Working Committee of our party, talk more of being an acting national chairman as claimed.
“He had voluntarily resigned in compliance with Article 31(1)(i) of our constitution to contest the position of deputy governor in Rivers State during the last general elections and has not been re-nominated by his zone to return to that office. Further, his non-membership of the NWC has been affirmed by the courts and an order restraining him from parading himself as a member of the NWC was granted against him on June 22, 2020 in the case of Dele Moses and others vs APC (SUIT NO: PHC/360/2020) where the court said inter alia:
“That an order of interim injunction be and is hereby made restraining the 1st, 2nd 4th and 5th defendants, acting by themselves or through any of their officers, agents, or privies from recognizing or regarding the third defendant/respondent as the national chairman or acting national chairman or deputy national secretary of the first defendant/respondent (the APC) or member of the national working committee of the first defendant pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”
In another statement by the NWC-recognised Acting National Chairman, Hilliard Eta, and Bulama, also on Wednesday, they said Buhari must have been wrongly advised and blackmailed into agreeing to lend his weight to illegality.
The statement said: “We wish to unequivocally state that members of the National Working Committee believe that the President was offered wrong advice or blackmailed into lending his weighty office to the illegality of the National Executive Committee meeting purportedly convened by one Victor Giadom on 25th June, 2020.
“We hereby respectfully implore Mr. President to kindly avail himself with facts of the matter regarding the impasse presently experienced by the party so as to guide him in his assessment of the matter because we are sure that the President if properly advised, would come to the conclusion that the meeting convened by Chief Victor Giadom bothers on illegality and criminality.
“The National Working Committee regrets to turn down the invitation to the illegal and unconstitutional national executive committee convened by Chief Victor Giadom.
“We believe that attending such a meeting will amount to embracing illegalities and turning a blind eye to the infractions on the constitution of our great party.”
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
