THE
All Progressives Congress (APC), on Tuesday, said it would resist
extension of emergency rule in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states, where it
holds sway.The Independent National Electoral Commission said elections might not hold in the states under emergency rule in the next general elections.
The opposition party also said its support for increased funding for Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would be based on the adoption of biometric voter registration for the general elections.
These positions, among others, were reached at its seventh Interim National Executive Committee regular meeting.
The seven-point draft communique issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, read: “The APC held the seventh regular meeting of the Interim National Executive Committee of the party on Tuesday, under the chairmanship of Chief Bisi Akande. Notable party leaders, including General Muhammadu Buhari, Senator Bola Tinubu, Dr Ogbonayya Onu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff graced the meeting.
“The meeting happily welcomed, for the first time, the Governors of Kano and Rivers states, representatives of the governors of Adamawa, Sokoto and Kwara states and Alhaji Kawu Baraje to the Interim NEC of the APC.
“Sadly, in the course of the meeting, the APC learnt that another deadly attack was perpetrated against the Rivers Government House where the office of the deputy governor was partly destroyed. This and other acts of impunity clearly show the PDP, its agents and governments to be lawless.
“The APC warns that these acts demonstrate clearly that this government is anti-people, dictatorial and would go to any length to plunge the country into chaos.
“At the conclusion of the meeting: The APC has noted with concern the threats of the PDP to procure a pliant judge to declare the seats of the G-5 governors vacant in spite of the Supreme Court decision in the case of Atiku in 2007. It is of note that several times, governors, including their legislatures from other parties, have decamped from the ANPP and PPA to the PDP even when their former parties were not factionalised without any consequence.
“The APC will not only resist this lawfully, but hereby warns the PDP to desist from words and deeds of impunity that threaten our stability and democracy. We also hope that the judiciary will not be a party to the deliberate promotion of lawlessness and impunity in our country. APC will give its governors and lawmakers the necessary support.”
Meanwhile, leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in states affected by recent defection of some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors have rejected the deals between the party and the defectors, with a strong-worded petition to the party leadership in Abuja.
“We are not aware of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) the national leaders signed and they did not tell us the content before they endorsed it.
“We build this party and we won’t accept any undemocratic attempt to deprive us of the house we build,” a party chief, who had arrived in Abuja over the matter, said.
The APC chiefs from Adamawa, Kwara, Kano and Sokoto states, who rejected the deals, included former Lagos State military administrator, General Buba Marwa; former Kano State governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau; former Sokoto State governor, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa and the governorship candidate of the party in Kwara State, Dele Belgore.
A top party official revealed to the Nigerian Tribune that the aggrieved APC leaders were scheduled to storm the party secretariat in Abuja today, to present their petition and demands.
“We will be storming the secretariat tommorow (today) to present our grievances. We have told them on several occassions but nobody listens to us. We will be making the last ditch efforts by meeting the interim leadership,” a party chief involved in the issue stated.
The aggrieved leaders were reported to be leading a delegation of the APC in the affected states, which would include the state chairmen and secretaries, alongide other leaders.
Nigerian Tribune was told that the aggrieved party leaders were not happy with the deals with the defecting governors, on the ground that the interest of original members of the party were sacrificed.
A key issue said to be creating disaffection was the ceding of party structures in Adamawa, Kano, Kwara and Sokoto states to Governors Murtala Nyako, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Ahmed Fatai and Aliyu Wamakko respectively
Other contentious issues included a proviso that conferred on the defectors the power to determine who get what within the party and the swapping of PDP state executives for old APC leadership in the affected states.
Both Bafarawa and Shekarau had publicly warned against ceding the APC structures in their states to the defections governors, while Belgore had set up a committee to look into how to respond to the defection.
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