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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The crisis rocking the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the National Working Committee (NWC), on Tuesday, deepened with factional members threatening to reject any autocratic decision hoisted on them by their National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, which has no approval of the greater number of their members.
In a warning letter written by the National Vice Chairman (North West), Salihu Moh Lukman, titled; “APC and the Need for Vigilance: Urgent Call for Intervention”, the factional NWC members lamented the chairman’s usurpation of their responsibility in the day-to-day running of the party.
Lukman, who revealed that the national chairman has rendered members of the NWC members elected two months ago redundant, lamented that apart from the chairman taking decisions unilaterally and blackmailing members with President Muhammadu Buhari’s name to accept his decisions, he has refused to convene their regular weekly meetings.
“We are compelled to make this statement following the serial postponement of the scheduled NWC 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 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.
“The National Chairman takes decisions unilaterally. When it suits him, he invokes the name of our leader, President Buhari to blackmail NWC members into accepting his decisions. Every effort to get the Chairman to respect the authority of the NWC as elected by March 26, 2022, APC National Convention is proving very difficult, if not impossible. 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, 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.
“As a party, we have suffered enough judicial embarrassments arising from clearly avoidable leadership breach of our party’s constitution and spelt out rules,” he said.
While reading the riot act, Comrade, as Lukman is fondly called, said: “As members of the NWC who have the mandate of our members, we hereby serve notice to Abdullahi Adamu, and through him to all APC leaders that henceforth, any decision taken by the National Chairman or any other party functionary, which require the approval of the NWC as enshrined in the APC constitution, will be considered as illegitimate and 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 an honest, fair, just and selfless commitment to party building. God bless our party!” Lukman prayed.
