The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, spoke yesterday on APC’s stand over Rivers and Ogun states’ issues.
On Rivers state issue
Over the last couple of days, there have been some issues that I think I want to comment on. The first is the judgment which was delivered recently by the Supreme Court.
As a political party we respect the judiciary, we also appreciate that the truth and the facts. Democracy is basically about the celebration of the rule of law not the rule of might. If it is rule of might people like me, who both vertically and horizontally challenged, cannot survive. So, as a party we believe in the rule of law.
And based on this commitment, which is not really a choice, we are obliged to respect the rule of law. And at the heart of that is total obedience to the letter and to the spirit of judicial findings. And judicial findings are not meant to be convenient.
In a democracy, they are orders which are meant to be obeyed. Therefore, the judgement by the supreme court in which from the first to the last page of the judgment is very clear that the Supreme Court has nullified the ward, local and state congresses that were done by my predecessor in Rivers state.
It also nullified the state and the local government congresses that were done because according to the findings by the Supreme Court, those congresses were done in spite of a subsisting Court Order.
What is important is that, as things stand the highest court of the land has pronounced that those congresses did not meet the requirements of the law. And therefore they are not valid.
As a law abiding party we have accepted the decision of the Supreme Court, and we will call a meeting in no distant future of all the stakeholders in Rivers State to prepare them and to put the necessary machinery in place to conduct fresh ward congresses across all the wards in Rivers State, to conduct local government congresses in all the Local governments in Rivers State and of course thereafter conduct the State Executive Congress in line with the provisions of the constitution of the All Progressives Congress.
These, we have to do in full obedience of the judgment of the Supreme Court.
I also want to apologize publicly in view of the court judgment but to put it mildly that the shock was such that the High Court where the matter originated that some persons besieged the court in a way that according to the Supreme Court would have undermined the security of the Court or an action that could be tantamount to intimidating the court.
I want to state on behalf of the All Progressives Congress that as a party, we do not believe that the court should be attacked by anyone regardless of your grievances. The courts are there to listen to all parties and to deliver judgement.
And in the real world you don’t always get the judgement that will suit you. In a democracy all judgments are to be obeyed or be vacated by a superior court.
But, we are not able to accept responsibility that the invasion of the court was done by members of the APC. We have not recruited thugs and we will not recruit any thugs for the purpose of canvassing issues before a law court. What we will do as responsible party is to brief counsels who in our judgment are competent to canvass issues before any of the courts which we drag people or we are dragged. Resort to thuggery is not the way out.
But, let me also remind everyone that this actions in question took place before I was elected the chairman of the All Progressives Congress. I am not defending them because they occurred under my tenure but I do appreciate that they occurred under our political party, leaders of the party will come and go but the party remains.
I inherit both the good, bad and the ugly side of whatever has happened but didn’t happen before I became the National Chairman of the party. It is on this basis that I accept this responsibility.
So, we apologize to the court if any embarrassment was done to Court, even as we cannot accept that those people were members of the APC. Whoever did it, whether they were party members or hoodlums, busybody but every right thinking Nigerian cannot accept that our courts are intimidated or their activities were disrupted.
On Ogun State issues
A lot of issues have been raised by some governors and I will like to comment on that of Ogun State and I will invited you as resourceful journalists and media practitioners, whether electronic or print, these are not issues that are between me as a person and many other persons. If I speak to the constitution of APC, it is not the secret document.
If we raise issues about the provisions of Electoral Act, they are not classified legislatures, they are things anyone of you can on your own obtain a copy, read through it and reach your own conclusions as to whether or not my position is right or wrong.
In the APC constitution, the only body, the only organ authorized by our party to conduct primaries is the National Working Committee of which I am privileged to be the chairman.
But there are processes that must be followed before the exercise of this powers or responsibilities. Namely: our National Executive Committee (NEC) met, and in its wisdom decided to invoke the relevant provisions of our constitution which among other things allowed us to conduct either direct primaries in which every member, card-carrying members of our party is entitled to vote or to do indirect primaries in which in this case, it is done by delegates. These delegates may be people who have been elected at the ward level or Local government levels and of course at the State level.
Now, in the case of Ogun State, I will talk slowly, so that you don’t miss any of the points.
Gov. Ibikunle Amosun like any other governor where we have governors and leaders where we don’t have governors went back in accordance with a resolution of National Executive Council to convey the meeting of the State Executive Council as directed by the National Executive Council.
And those meetings were meant to include, not just the State Executive Council, the NEC in its wisdom said it should also include: critical stakeholders and for the purpose of primaries, there can be no question that anyone seeking election to any of the offices is obviously a stakeholder in the process, particularly when the only matter on agenda is how those primaries would be conducted in order to ensure that this process is done clearly and there are no manipulations.
The NEC in its wisdom also resolved that when the State has opted for any of the options, the State Executive is obliged to ensure that majority of the members signed the resolution, not just one or two people signing on behalf of the others.
This was to avoid the situation where one or two may purport to act on behalf of others. On a good day when you have a meeting, the signature of the Chairman and the Secretary of the minute will suffice but because our party was determined to transparency and ensuring that this process is free from manipulations, it resolved that every member that appeared at that meeting, at least, the simple majority of those attending must sign the minute.
Now, Gov Amosun went back to Abeokuta like all other governors went to their various State Capital, in fairness to him, he conveyed a meeting that substantially meet the requirements as envisaged or resolved by the NEC, namely: The meeting of State Executive Council and some of critical stakeholders.
I talked about substantial compliance in the sense that there were people who were supposed to have been invited for that meeting but were not invited. They include: Some former Senators, who were entitled and supposed to be invited, they include: former governors or deputy governors who were supposed to be invited but were not invited.
But at least, there were many others who want to be invited, who ought to have been invited, who were duly invited. And therefore, everything was considered, I like to say that, they substantially complied with the requirements of convening that State Executive.
At the meeting, this is no secret, I expect that some of your media houses will have video clips of what transpired at that meeting because it wasn’t a closed-door meeting, it was an open meeting. Gov Amosun in his wisdom decided to introduce ‘third element’ which didn’t feature in the resolutions of National Executive Council.
He announced that Ogun state was going to adopt consensus and he proceeded to define what in his view constitute a consensus. And having defined it to mean the pronouncement of the governor, he went on to announce what, according to him represent a consensus candidate, he announced one Akinlade as the next governor. He proceeded to announce another gentleman, whom he said would be the deputy governor, consensus!
He went on to proclaim himself as the next senator, consensus and he says the current senator in his own Senatorial zone, Senator Tejuoso will step aside so that he, Ibikunle Amosun, at the end of his tenure as governor of Ogun State will proceed to the Senate. According to him, this is his own consensus.
He went on to also announce that the second Senator also, from Ogun State will step aside and another gentleman will come in place of that senator. And according to him, this pronouncement is a consensus.
Not done, governor Amosun went on to announce a particular gentleman, who will be the next Speaker. He went on to announce another one who will be the next deputy Speaker of the State house of Assembly.
Gov. Amosun, according to his own definition of consensus also unilaterally pronounced that of the eight seats of house of representatives members, seven will not return according to him, only one will return. This he claimed is a consensus.
He went on to list other members of the House of Assembly who will seek re-election and those who will not seek re-election. All through, he announced about forty names which according to him constitute consensus.
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