Amidst speculations that the Supreme Court judgement which upheld the election of the Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, exposed activities by the Mai-Mala Buni-led Caretaker of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to legal tussles, the party insisted on going ahead with this Saturday’s Ward Congresses.
This just as APC warned chieftains and members of the party against any purported parallel congress, parallel party organ and or parallel party office and other divisive activities which will not be tolerated.
Mamman Tahir, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Member, Representing North East in the APC Caretaker Committee at a press conference in Abuja on Friday said going by the advice of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Buni-led Committee was in comfortable position to pilot affairs of the party.
Tahir emphasised that the party’s programmes will continue to roll on in the normal course of things and assured teeming members of the APC across the country to come out and elect officers at the ward level on Saturday.
While dismissing the potential danger of the Supreme Court to APC activities, the legal luminary said: “The court hasn’t made any pronouncement or any judgement that undermines our position, and you don’t go into speculating what the courts will do in the future”.
On parallel congresses, he said: “We are not aware of any parallel congresses going on. It is when the congresses hold that we will know if there is an issue. Some of the states are having problems and the Caretaker Committee has been working very hard to ensure all the parties work together and remember the decision of the party is for consensus if possible.
“If there is no consensus, members will be free to go into election. This party is not about imposing leaderships on its members. So there is no reason for any parallel congresses at all because it is plural system. If 10 people come out to contest for a particular position so be it. The voters; card carrying members of the party will decide eventually who the members are”.
Secretary of the Caretaker Committee, John-James Akpanudoedehe in a notice to party members ahead of the exercise said, the party shall deploy the full weight of the law as stipulated in section 21 (d) of its Constitution on perpetrators and sponsors of unlawful acts such as parallel primaries.
“All persons who are affected by Article 31 of our Constitution should apply for waivers as stipulated under sub. Section 3 of the said Article 31, this is also clearly spelt out in the ‘Special provisions’ of our guidelines”, Akpanudoudehe urged.
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