A member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Salihu Mustapha, has said that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has seized to be the National Chairman of the party based on a ‘subsisting court order’ and the position of Edo chapter of the party.
The party which has been in various crisis further divided Tuesday over the choice of replacement for the vacant position of the party’s National Secretary.
While the North-east stakeholders had told newsmen on Monday that the National Secretary’s position had been zoned to Borno and Yobe states, it was gathered that the National Chairman during the NWC meeting made attempt to force a particular candidate on the zone.
But speaking with newsmen immediately he stormed out of the said closed door meeting, North-east National Vice Chairman of the party, Comrade Salihu Mustapha, from Adamawa state, told newsmen (angrily) that in the first place the national chairman “does not have right to preside on the meeting, adding that from Oshiomhole’s ward to the state level, he (Oshiomhole) has been suspended.
Mustapha said until another court judgement overtune the subsisting court order, Oshiomhole remained suspended.
Blueprint report that there were shouting match during the closed door meeting of the party leaders.
“Unless I see the reversal of the court order suspending Oshiomhole as the APC national chairman, I won’t allow him to seat here as the party’s national chairman,” Mustapha stated.
“Yesterday I held my zonal meeting and we agreed on how to go about the position of National Secretary. Behold, today Adams Oshiomhole ordained someone from somewhere and said he is going to be the National Secretary.
“I want to tell you this is an illegality because of two things; number one, this party has set precedence, when Lawal Babachir left, I replaced him from Adamawa state, Lai Mohammed left Bolaji Abdullahi replaced him from Kwara, Bolaji left Onilu replaced him from Kwara state.
“But this is not to say there is no room for consensus. There is serious discussion going on between Borno and Yobe for them to be able to harmonize and come up with a Secretary.
“We had a meeting yesterday and agreed that the two states should go and meet. I spoke with Borno Governor this morning that I will be in Borno on Friday and consult with them and proceed to Yobe and by Monday will come up with a name.
“I am not the type of person that will sit and watch illegality. NEC positions are like Ministerial positions and are shared across the states.”
On why he will no longer recognise Oshiomhole as the party’s national chairman, Mustapha said: “I have seen a subsisting court order somewhere, where the party from Edo followed the procedure from his ward, local government, state and his suspension was announced and court upheld it.
“As I am standing here I have not seen any court that is vacating that subsisting court order. So I am not recognising him as National Chairman. He doesn’t have the right to call for any meeting.”
When asked after the meeting to comment on whether the party had receive a court judgement suspending the national chairman, the party’s National Legal Adviser Babatunde Oganla, said: “I was not in the know of such judgement yet.”
