Pioneer deputy national auditor of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammad Bala Jibrin, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari, Bola Tinubu (the party’s national leader), and all other well-meaning leaders of APC to come out and condemn the acts of impunity by Adams Oshiomhole, the party’s national chairman, and save the party from imminent collapse.
The call is coming amid disagreement over the mode of primary election to be adopted by the party at its governorship primary election in Edo State scheduled for June 22.
Godwin Obaseki, the incumbent governor, is seeking re-election for a second term in office, but a faction of the party, apparently backed by Oshiomhole, is making getting his party’s return ticket an uphill task.
While Oshiomhole, in a letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dated May 19, 2020, had said the party would use direct primary to select its candidate, Anselm Ojezua, state chairman of the party, said the party’s State Working Committee chose indirect primary and that the National Executive Council of the party had said each state was at liberty to adopt any method of preference.
Political analysts believe that indirect primary election would enhance Obaseki’s chances of securing the APC ticket for the September 19 Edo governorship election, though the governor has said he would emerge as APC candidate irrespective of the mode of primary election adopted. But Jibrin, in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, railed against Oshiomhole’s actions, saying the national chairman is engaged in not only abuse of office but is trampling on the APC Constitution simply to perpetuate impunity and injustice just because he holds the office of national chairman.
He lamented that Oshiomhole, in his bid to continue with illegalities and acts of impunity, which he perpetrated on a large scale during the November 2018 APC primary elections, without conscience and sense of fairness and justice wrote a letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the APC had decided to adopt direct primary for the Edo State APC governorship.
Jibrin emphasised that the APC National Executive Committee (NEC), and not the National Working Committee (NWC), has the final say on the mode of primary election as recently done for Edo. He argued that Article 20 (IV) of APC Constitution states: “Without prejudice to Article 20(ii) and (iii) of this Constitution, the National Working Committee shall subject to the approval of the National Executive Committee make Rules and Regulations for the nomination of candidates through primary elections.” This, Jibrin said, shows that the powers to determine the mode/type of election to be used for the nomination of candidates rest with NEC and not NWC, or at least MUST get the approval of NEC.
“So, the truth is that Edo State APC chapter was correct to say that only the NEC has the final say on the matter and not the NWC,” he said. Insisting that NWC was only delegated once to adopt mode of primaries, the national auditor of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) said, “We would recall that on August 29, 2018, the APC’s NEC delegated this function to NWC and the state chapters of the party only for the purpose of Osun and Ekiti primary elections and not in perpetuity.” According to him, the NEC resolution on this was that the State Executive Committee (SEC) “shall in consultation with critical stakeholders in each state identify and agree among themselves the mode of the primary election to be applied in their state”. ”Therefore, when we take the constitutional provision, and the decision of NEC together, it is evident that the NWC has no power whatsoever on these matters until they go back to NEC.
However, both were flagrantly disregarded and disobeyed by the national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole,” Jibrin said. The former governorship aspirant in Bauchi State said the contemplation of the drafters of the APC Constitution is that direct primary means allowing all card-carrying party members to vote in a primary election but there are two issues that must be addressed or the whole exercise would be subjected to abuse and manipulation by Oshiomhole.
Citing Article 9.3 (i) of the APC Constitution, which states that only fully registered and financially up-to-date members of the party shall have the right to vote and be voted for into any of the elective positions, Jibrin said only the NEC can decide who is qualified to vote or be voted for, including the mode of the election of candidates during the primary election.
He called on NWC and Oshiomhole to subject themselves to the NEC as the only constitutional body that has the final say on the issue, adding that NEC should summon an emergency meeting and thrash out the issues once and for all.
Jibrin further argued that APC has no updated register for the conduct of direct primaries as required by party’s constitution, hence the insistence on adopting a direct primary without a register of members smacks of sinister motive to cause confusion and violence and manipulate the process to serve the whims and caprices of Oshiomhole.
Meanwhile, Governor Obaseki has banned any form of direct primary elections by political parties to nominate governorship candidate for the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state. This is against the backdrop of rising number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the state.
Obaseki, who announced the ban in a gazette published on Friday, said only indirect primary election can be allowed to take place in the state, and that can only be held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.
According to the gazette signed by the governor, as part of COVID-19 response efforts, the state government caused an epidemiological study to be conducted by a team of epidemiologists (presented to the Edo State COVID-19 response team on Tuesday 14, March 2020), the result of which suggested, among other things, that COVID-19 infections in the state would peak around the 28th of June, 2020.
Also at the weekend, the governor denied the allegation making the round that he forged his academic certificates.
During a thank-you visit to principal officers and ward leaders in Oredo Local Government Areaof the state, Obaseki described the allegation as laughable. He also described as laughable the rumours that he lost his ward in the last general elections.
“They say I forged my certificate. How can you forge the certificate of the University of Ibadan? I am not like those that burn buildings to cover up their certificate issues. When people come out to lie that I didn’t win my ward during the last election, they forget that election results are documented,” he said.
The governor urged the people of the state to be wary of the antics of rumour-mongers in the run-up to the elections scheduled for September this year, noting that the forthcoming governorship election in the state would be a watershed moment in Nigeria’s nascent democracy as the polls would change the face of the country’s elections and strengthen its democracy.
“We have been practising democracy for 21 years now. We cannot continue to behave the same way. This time, we will change the narrative,” he said.
APC leaders in Oredo, including Austin Eweka of Ward I, Martins Osakue of Ward II, Charles Atiemwen of Ward III, Oteghe Adams of Ward IV, Taiye Omoregie of Ward VI, as well as other leaders and principal officers of the party in the local council pledged their loyalty and continued support for the governor based on his track record of success achieved in the last three and a half years.
At the visit, Oteghe Adams, APC leader in Oredo Ward IV, presented the result of the 2019 general elections displaying the tallies for House of Representatives, senatorial and presidential elections, where it was clearly shown that the governor won his ward convincingly.
