APC NWC dissolution good move, says US-based party member
A member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, resident in the United States of America, Akpan-obong Akanimo Ituen is excited at President Muhammadu Buhari’s intervention in the crises which rocked the ruling party threatening to disintegrate it in the last few months. Akpan-obong Ituen who hails from Akwa Ibom State and had sought to represent Uyo Federal Constituency in the National Assembly in 2019 says the decision to dissolve the National Executive Committee of the party following the ouster of Comrade Adams Oshiomohle, national Chairman of the party by the Court of Appeal was in order and in the best interest of the party.
Akpan-obong Ituen in a statement released by his campaign office in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, thanked the President for rising to the occasion of demonstrating leadership and stabilising the ruling party once more. Ituen in the statement called on all party members to heed Mr President’s directive to withdraw all suits currently in court against the party and support the Acting National Executive of the party to resolve internal issues and organise an extraordinary Convention of the party to elect new National Executive Committee for the party within six months as recommended by President Buhari, National Leader of the party.
The statement which was made available to CitizensWatch also thank the President over the appointment of Senator John Akpan Udoedehe as Acting National Secretary of the Party.
Akpan-obong Ituen noted that Senator Akpanudoedehe, 2011 gubernatorial candidate of ACN in Akwa Ibom State and former Minister of the Federal Republic, enjoys national and grassroot support given his experiences, resilience, commitment and passion for the success of the party both at the State and Federal Level. He said such experiences garnered over the years by Akpanudoedehe is much needed by the party during this period as the party launches a Reformation stride that will make the party capable of retaining power at the centre in 2023.
He said he has personal knowledge of and interacted with key individuals appointed into the acting NEC saying from their backgrounds, it is clear that both the President and the leadership of the party made ground checks and right choices in the appointment.
Recall that following a crises of confidence between Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and his godfather and national Chairman of APC, Comr Adams Oshiomohle, Comrade Oshiomohle got a vote of no confidence from his ward and subsequently was suspended from the part party at the ward level over allegations of destabilizing the party in Edo State. The suspension was ratified by both the Chapter and State Executive of the party leaving Comrade Oshiomohle hanging without a base. Upon litigation, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ruled against Mr Oshiomohle that having been suspended by his ward, he lacked the authority to lead NEC of the party. The decision was upheld penultimate week by a Court of Appeal and with pending Court orders declaring Chief Victor Giadom as “substantive” acting Chairman and a section of NEC members rooting for Ex Governor Abiola Ajimobi as the rightful acting chairman, the party drifted into anarchy with Pressure on President Buhari from party members to intervene in the crises.
Following what the Presidency described as “sound legal advice to the President to support Chief Victor Giadom’s led leadership” PMB attended NEC of the party on Thursday convened by the Giadom group wherein his recommendation for the dissolution of the embattled NEC of the party, setting up acting NEC to conduct a national Convention to elect fresh NEC passed majority votes and was sustained. Members of the Acting NEC were recommended and voted to lead the party for six months.
In his statement, Akpan-obong Ituen urged all party leaders and members to “rally support for the Acting NEC of the party to succeed as a way of sustaining and showing respect to the President who was elected to lead the country and by implication, provide leadership direction to the party in moments of distress…”