Giadom NEC meeting iIllegal – APC scribe

The Acting National Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Arc. Waziri Bulama, has declared Thursday’s emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting summoned by Victor Giadom as illegal.

This was contained in a statement he signed in Abuja on Wednesday.

Bulama faulted the claim in the notice of the meeting by Giadom that he conveyed the meeting with the consent of President Muhammad Buhari. He argued that, “Our Leader, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is renowned for insisting on compliance with our constitution and rule of law.

“It can therefore not be true that Mr. President supports the convening of such an illegal NEC by a non-member of APC’s NWC. We urge all to disregard the said Notice as neither the NWC nor the NEC has called for such meeting,” he said.

The statement further reads: “We are constrained to once again react to a purported invitation to a National Executive Committee meeting of our great party; the All Progressives Congress (“APC”) issued by one Victor Giadom who until the last general elections in 2019 held the position the Deputy National Secretary of the Party.

“Our esteem members are advised to disregard this invitation because the author and sole signatory of the said invitation is not member of the National Working Committee (“NWC”) of our party, talk more of being an Acting National Chairman as claimed.

“He had voluntarily resigned in compliance with Article 31(1)(i) of our Constitution to contest the position of Deputy Governor in Rivers State during the last general elections and has not been re-nominated by his Zone to return to that office. Further, his non-membership of the NWC has been affirmed by the Courts and an Order restraining him from parading himself as a member of the NWC was granted against him on June 22, 2020 in the case of DELE MOSES & ANOR V APC (SUIT NO: PHC/360/2020) where the Court said inter alia:

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“That an Order of interim injunction be and is hereby made restraining the 1st, 2nd 4th and 5th Defendants, acting by themselves or through auy of their officers, agents, or privies from recognizing or regarding the 3rd Defendant/Respondent as the National Chairman or Acting National Chairman or Deputy National Secretary of the 1st Defendant/Respondent or member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the 1st Defendant/Responde1it pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice”.

The acting scribe further said that Giadom was also suspended by the Rivers State Chapter of the party and the NWC received communication of same on June 21, 2020.

Bulama noted: “More instructive is the fact that the said invitation copiously references the NEC meeting he illegally sought to convene on March 17, 2020 with a view to resurrecting same to hold on June 25, 2020. Regrettably, this proposed NEC meeting is also infected by the same bug that render the former void which is Article 25 (B) of our Constitution which provides:

“i. The National Executive Committee shall meet every quarter and or at any time decided by the National Chairman or at the request made in writing by at least two-third ofthe members ofthe National Executive Committee provided that less than onrteen 14 da snoticeis •ven or the meetin to esummoned.

ii. Without prejudice to Article 25(B)(i) of this Constitution the National Working Committee may summ meeting at any time, provided that on an at emergency least seven National (7) days Executive notice of the Committeemeeting shall be given to all those entitled to attend”.

See also PRESS RELEASE Conduct credible, unbiased LG election, Makinde charges OYSIEC …inaugurates commission *'I won't interfere with your activities' Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, on Thursday, inaugurated the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC), charging its members to deliver credible, free and fair local government election in the state. The governor stated that the commission, headed by Mr. Isiaka Olagunju, has been saddled with the responsibility of overseeing an election, which outcome will reflect the will of the people. He charged the commission to, within the shortest possible time, make the will of the people prevail by conducting a local government election that is unbiased. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor, while speaking at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, venue of the swearing-in, said his administration is ready to conduct the local government election, as it has allocated money for OYSIEC in the 2020 Budget. He promised that his administration would not interfere with the activities of the commission. He said: "I want to thank the House of Assembly for confirming you in a timely manner. I hope that you will also imbibe the sense of urgency and conduct credible local government election in Oyo State within the shortest possible time. “We knew this would come and we already allocated money in the Oyo State Budget for this year to conduct the election. Within the shortest possible time, please give us elected officials at the local government level that are known to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria." Governor Makinde, who said he has not yet indicated whether he will be running for another term in 2023 or not, as it is too early to be thinking of that for now, appealed to the opposition in the state not to overheat the polity. He urged politicians not to see elections as war or a do-or-die affair, but allow the will of people to prevail. "Some parties said they want to unseat me in 2023. It is okay, but I have not indicated the interest to run in 2023, as it is still too early. I may or may not. I have a second address and that is what we want to encourage in our space. “This board will have free hand. If they want to unseat me, it's fine; but they should contest and win many councillorship seats as much as possible so that we can know they are really serious. I will encourage them and others to contest in 2023. "Who knows who is going to be alive in the next hour? We are only sure of this moment. So, they should calm down. Elections should never be war or a do-or-die affair. Election in a democracy should be about the will of the people.” He added that members of the board are men and women of integrity with track records, admonishing them to do the work that will make people of the state proud of them. "I believe that the mandate of this board is to conduct an inclusive election. So, gone are the days when the governor of the state will manipulate matter so that some political parties will not field candidates. We are not here to play games. "So, I am saying to this board that the will of the people must remain sacrosanct. We have sent your names to the House of Assembly. We believe you are men and women of integrity. I have met one or two of you personally. It is not about the political party but the interest of the state and I believe the state will be proud of you,” he said. Speaking on behalf of the board members shortly after the swearing-in, the chairman, Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission, Mr. Olagunju, assured the people of the state that the board will conduct a credible and transparent local government election. He called on the people to have confidence and trust in the commission, adding that they will not be biased towards any political party and that the will of the people will prevail. Olagunju said: "The essence of inaugurating the board is to organise and manage local government election; that is our mandate and we have to follow it. "We were just inaugurated today. We need to go back to the office, see what is happening before we can talk about when to hold the election. It is possible this year but everything depends on the circumstances that we find ourselves when we get to the office. "When His Excellency was inaugurating the commission, he gave us the mandate that we must ensure that the will of the people prevail and that it is sacrosanct. So, we want to assure the people of Oyo State that we will conduct a transparent, credible and acceptable election. "I can also assure that people will have confidence and trust in the commission. It will be our joy that all political parties will participate in the election process. The governor has also said that we should not favour any party, because he is not in support of impartiality." The Board members include: Comrade Adeniji Babatunde, Alhaja Ganiyat Saka, Mr. Emmanuel Olanrewaju, Chief Kunmi Agboola, Mr. Aderemi Ayoade, Mr. Sunday Falana and Mr. Adeojo Elias. The swearing-in was attended by the Deputy Governor, Engr. Rauf Olaniyan; Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Olubamiwo Adeosun; Chief of Staff, Chief Bisi Ilaka; Head of Service, Mrs. Ololade Agboola and other cabinet members, as well as chieftains of the PDP in the state, led by the chairman, Alhaji Kunmi Mustapha. Signed: Taiwo Adisa Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde September 3, 2020.

Bulama argued further that “It is clear that even a legitimate Chairman is only invested with powers to fix/announce a date for NEC meetings to hold every quarter and nothing more. He cannot summon a meeting on that date because under our Constitution only the National Secretary can do so pursuant to Article 14.3 of our Constitution which provides:

“14.3. National Secretary The National Secretary shall:

ii. Cause to be issued as directed, notices ofmeetings ofthe National Convention, the National Executive Committee and the National Working Committee of the Party”.

Indeed two-thirds of the members of NEC may also summon a meeting, but it shall be required that the National Secretary gives 14 days notice to all persons entitled to attend.

“In this case, the purported invitation was illegally issued on June 23, 2020 and the meeting fixed for June 25, 2020 which gives notice for only 2 days. We concede that a shorter Notice period of 7 days is allowed under our Constitution as stated in 25(b)(ii) above, however, a majority of the members of NWC must have voted to summon such a NEC meeting and that was not the case in this instance,” Bulama concluded.

(C)The Nation

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Giadom NEC meeting iIlegal – APC scribe

Giadom NEC meeting iIllegal – APC scribe

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