APC leadership crisis deepens

• Non-NWC NEC Forum ratifies tenure extension for Oyegun

The leadership crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the extension of the tenure of the National Working Committee (NWC) as well as that of the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun is deepening with opposition forces making contradictory decisions and reinforcing their political fortes. Paradoxically, the crisis is deepening the cold war, as well as widening the gulf, in the party.

A group has gone to court to challenge the decision of the National Executive committee (NEC) on the tenure extension; the APC Governors also opposed the tenure extension.

The APC States Chairmen are threatening the expulsion of those who went to court from the party. It is becoming apparent that the mechanisms of negotiations and consensus building have broken down in the ruling party.

Reinforcing the NWC and the National Chairman, APC forum of non-National Working Committee (NWC) met in Abuja on Wednesday night to re-affirm the National Executive Committee (NEC) decision to extend the tenure of the NWC and other Party executives by one year.

Members of the Forum who are also NEC members demanded APC leadership to take disciplinary action against members who took the party to court without exhausting internal party mechanism, in line with the party constitution.

The Forum which includes a founding APC member Alhaji Nasiru Danu, and 17 others, issued a communiqué after the meeting conveying their resolutions to APC leadership.

The Communique reads: “The Non-NWC members forum of the ruling Party-APC at her meeting in Wednesday,  21st March, 2018, passed the following resolutions:

1. Re-affirmed its position taken by NEC at the last NEC meeting of February 27, 2018 principally on the tenure extension to its Party Officers at all levels.

2. Urges the NWC of the Party to take necessary disciplinary action in consonance with the Party constitution in respect of those who sued the Party without exhausting the Party internal mechanism in respect of their complaints or grievances as contained in our Party constitution.

At the end of the 5th meeting of the APC NEC, it was generally agreed by members to extend the tenure of all elected and appointed officers of the Party in the 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the national level.

The current tenure will end on June 30, 2018.

However, there are some APC stakeholders insisting that the party could inaugurate a caretaker committee in the absence of elective national congress that will provide new leaders for the party. Some other party stakeholders has argued that going for elective national convention and  electing new members of the NWC and other executives may generate conflicts the party may not resolve before the 2019 general elections.