APC Compiling List Of Litigants For NEC’s Sanctions — Senator Akpanudoedehe

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has restated its resolve to discipline members who have instituted legal proceedings against the party, saying its hierarchy is compiling a list of all such litigants for transmission to its National Executive Committee, NEC, to apply constitutional sanctions.


National Secretary of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee CECPC, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe disclosed this while giving a preliminary overview of weekend’s local government congresses.
Akpanudoedehe said: “We are already compiling the list of all the cases and you are very conversant with the party constitution. We will inform the NEC and a decision will be taken by NEC.


“We will gather the whole thing together and approach NEC for a decision. But do we stand by what the NEC said? The decision of the NEC? Yes.”


He described the Local Government congresses as “very successful” and “far better than the ward congress.”


On reports of parallel congresses in Enugu State, Akpanudoedehe said: “I don’t know why you are reporting what is not available. As far as APC is concerned, we are very structured. We put up a committee and the committee has gone out to conduct the congresses. The next step will be an appeal and anyone with issues will go to the appeal and if you are not satisfied with the appeal, the caretaker committee will handle it. That is our structure”.


“This is party politics. It is a family affair. If you check many of the reports people complain about on the pages of the newspaper but to approach the appeal panel, there is no substantive evidence to warrant the expectation of what you are talking about.”


“There can be complaints somewhere. Don’t forget the last statement that we issued. There is a window of opportunity when people are not satisfied. The Caretaker committee is still open.”


He also spoke about the order of a Delta State High Court which halted the exercise in the state.


“You know that the supervising institution of a political party is the INEC. We will write to INEC and by the rule of the land we are to give them 21 days notice and you will also write to INEC stating names of people who are going to those congresses, the venue you will conduct the congresses, you will also announce locally stating the time of the congress and we would inform the security agencies for protection and guide.”


‘’If you move away from the organization stipulated by INEC we will describe it the way anybody will describe it.
This is the headquarters of APC. If you go and set up something outside here, it is no more APC. I’m just hearing from you that there was a parallel congress. I don’t know.”


“Forms are available If they didn’t give you forms in your state, come to Abuja. We will give it to you. We have said clearly that we shall sell the form to you if your state is not ready to sell to you.”



In Osun, the APC National Committee for Local Government Congress, yesterday, announced results of the congress held in the 30 local councils of the state.


Announcing the result at a press conference at the party secretariat in Osogbo, Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, disclosed that the results were compiled and announced in line with the constitution of the party.


The party’s faction loyal to the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, had on Sunday announced that its members won in 28 local councils and the Area Office after a parallel congress conducted on Saturday.


However, Elegbeleye declared a null and void result of the purported congress, saying no party member or group notified him of plans to hold any other congress despite holding stakeholders meeting at the party secretariat on Friday, where consensus model was adopted for the exercise.


He added: “On Friday, we held a Stakeholder’s’ meeting and I said the party had opted for consensus but in area where there are disagreements and people want to really go out to vote, they are allowed and for someone to insist that he won an election, he must have notified us that in a particular area they want to vote. I said, nobody, I mean nobody till now gave us any notification of any other Congress elsewhere.


“We are not from Osun and every member of the party knows the procedure, they know we are around. Nobody can claim that he doesn’t know we are around. That was why a stakeholders’ meeting was held to further announce our presence.”


“So, as far as we are concerned, any congress outside the one we supervised, monitored and subsequently announced its results is a nullity.”


“We have the results of the 30 Local Government Areas and Ife-East Area Office with us. We were here yesterday for the compilation of the results coming from the Local Governments.”


In his remarks, the Caretaker Chairman of the party, Prince Gboyega Famodun, expressed displeasure over the conduct of some members of the party, noting that “no pressure group in APC can equate its strength to that of the party itself that is fully registered and constitutionally constituted.”