Adams Oshiomhole’s loyalists within the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have rejected the invitation to attend the national executive committee (NEC) convened by Victor Giadom who was yesterday recognized by President Muhammadu Buhari as the acting national chairman of the ruling party.
Giadom chose the presidential villa as the venue of the meeting, suggesting that only NEC could solve the party’s crisis.
However, in a new twist to the raging crises within the party, Hillard Eta, vice-chairman of the party in the south-south and Waziri Bulama, acting national secretary, said after an emergency NWC meeting held after Buhari declared support for Giadom that they would not be part of the Aso Rock meeting.
Eta disclosed that attending the NEC meeting will amount to “embracing illegalities and turning a blind eye to the infractions on the constitution of the party.”
“We wish to unequivocally state that members of the National Working Committee (NWC) believe that the President was offered wrong advice or blackmailed into lending his weighty office to the illegality of the National Executive Committee meeting purportedly convened by one Victor Giadom on 25th June, 2020,” the statement read.
“We hereby respectfully implore Mr. President to kindly avail himself with facts of the matter regarding the impasse presently experienced by the party so as to guide him in his assessment of the matter because we are sure that the President, if properly advised, would come to the conclusion that the meeting convened by Chief Victor Giadom bothers on illegality and criminality.
“The National Working Committee (NWC) regrets to turn down the invitation to the illegal and unconstitutional National Executive Committee (NEC) convened by Chief Victor Giadom. We believe that attending such a meeting will amount to embracing illegalities and turning a blind eye to the infractions on the Constitution of our great Party.”
The ruling APC has been embroiled in leadership crises in the last few weeks with an appeal court affirming the suspension of Adams Oshiomhole, the national chairman of the party. Just last week, Godwin Obaseki, the governor of Edo state elected under the platform of the APC dumped the party and pitched his tent with the opposition PDP from where he intends to push push his quest for a second term in office.
