APC goes to National Convention with escalating conflicts

By SUNDAY ODIBASHI

The All Progressives Congress (APC) will be going into the venue of its National Convention on Saturday, June 23, 2018, in Abuja, with myriads of unresolved conflicts.

Some State Chapters of the part y have initiated legal suit seeking injunctions to stop the convention until the crises in those states are resolved.

Nnanna Igbokwe of Imo State APC, as well as other party stakeholders in Cross River State APC, have warned that they have commenced legal suit against the party in the court of law, arguing that APC national leadership has been served the court notices through the National Legal Adviser, Muiz Banire.

On another divide, is the show of power between the party’s Convention Petition Tribunal chaired by Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and APC National Chairman, chief john Odigie-Oyegun, over suspension of some candidates for the party’s national offices. The Imo governor is using his position to get a pound of the flesh of those who defeated him in the ward, local and state congresses in Imo State, making him lose APC leadership in the state.  There were indications that the governor masterminded the suspension of 19 candidates, mostly candidates from Imo State, but the APC national chairman felt otherwise and supported the nullification of the candidates.

More so, the disaffection and protest of the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) continues to hunt the party leadership, including President Muhammadu Buhari. The President, including Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, have held meetings with the nPDP to dialogue on their grievances but the issues were not resolved. Accordingly, President Buhari was gathered to have scheduled another meeting with the nPDP for Thursday for further dialogue towards resolution of the complaints and discontents before the Saturday national convention.

Conflicts in several other states which heralded the various congresses are still lingering. Many senators are at loggerhead with governors of their respective states. More importantly, the hanger over of parallel congresses in several states across the have not been erased as APC proceeds to its national convention.

Beside these cornucopia of conflicts, the APC national convention was in the latest mutual distrust, threatened by insinuations of a ‘unity list’ art the instance of APC governors, which presupposes that the new party leaders have already been anointed and endorsed, making the participation of party members at the convention irrelevant.

National Daily gathered, however, that the APC National Convention Central Planning Committee Secretary, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, and a member of the Publicity Sub-committee, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, refuted the compilation of a ‘Unity list’.

Ndoma-Egba had categorically stated that there would be a level playing field for all candidates jostling for the party’s offices at the national secretariat.

Ndoma-Egba had acknowledged that the committee, within its mandate, is committed to ensuring transparent and hitch-free convention in the election of new members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).

Ndoma-Egba had declared: “I am not aware of any such list. The committee has nothing to do with any such list. Our business and mandate is to ensure a successful convention by conducting a transparent exercise that will be acceptable to all. And that is exactly what we are set to do. We are determined to deliver a credible and transparent elective convention for our great party.”

Furthermore, Dabiri-Erewa, in a media interaction in Abuja monitored by National Daily from Lagos, also stated that that the said ‘Unity list’ is fake. She declared: “…we hear of the existence of a unity list; this is not true, there is no unity list. But of course, consensus is allowed, affirmation is allowed. And of course, as I said, some people are running unopposed. There’s no such list as Unity list, if you see any, it is a fake list. The election will be held, and it will be free, fair and credible.”

National Daily gathered that 6,800 delegates will be participating at the Saturday, June 23 for APC national convention in Abuja to elect new national leaders.