The South – South State Chairmen of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has told the party’s Deputy National Chairman, North, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, that he cannot remove the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on pages of newspaper.
The State chairmen, after an emergency meeting in Abuja called to review the content of Senator Lawal’s letter that asked Oshiomhole to resign, said the senior party official was merely expressing his personal opinion on perceived issues which is not a reflection of the views of the generality of party stakeholders who are yet to find anything ontoward in the stewardship.
In a joint statement issued and signed by the six South – South APC State chairmen namely; Hon. Ini T. Okopido (Akwa – Ibom), Hon. Amos Lalabunafa (Bayelsa), Mr John Ochalla (Cross Rivers), Prophet Jones Ode Erue (Delta), Barr. Aslem U. Ojezua (Edo), and Hon. Ojukaye Flag Amachree (Rivers), they gave the Deputy National Chairman North seven days to apologise to the National Chairman in order not to receive the wrath of party members in the South South.
The State chairmen said the National Chairman cannot be removed on the pages of newspapers because the constitution of the party which Senator Shuaibu subscribed to, as a member of the NWC, guarantees the tenure of office of the party’s National Chairman and the processes of removing him from office.
The State chairmen said what the Deputy National Chairman , North, had done was tantamount to creating disaffection amongst party faithfuls. This, they said, is very offensive to the constitution of the party.
The chairmen passed a vote of confidence on the National Chairman and vowed to resist any attempt to blackmail him out of office for standing against injustice that had hitherto been the hallmark of his predecessor.
They said as a senior party official the Deputy National Chairman North ought to be well acquainted with the provisions of the party’s constitution regarding how to channel perceived grievances.
The State Chairmen, who disagreed with Senator Shuaibu’s claims that the actions of the National Chairman was responsible for multiplicity of court cases bedeviling various State chapters of the party, said it was rather the landmines created by his predecessor who was bent on destroying the party before departing.
