THE National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held on Friday ended abruptly.
The embattled national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, adjourned the meeting in the heat of contributions by members.
The chairman of the party in Zamfara State, Alhaji Lawan Liman, who incidentally is the chairman of the forum of aggrieved NEC members, offered an insight into what transpired at the closed-door meeting while addressing a press conference last night in Abuja.
Liman, who was flanked by other members of the forum, demanded for Oshiomhole’s resignation to save the party from what he called its imminent disintegration.
He said: “The All Progressive Congress was founded as a platform for the progressives in Nigeria in 2014 with ‘change’ as the slogan of the party.
“The party was positively embraced by the citizens of Nigeria, culminating in the record-breaking victory of President Muhammadu Buhari as the first opposition leader to defeat an incumbent president.
“Most of the goodwill acquired by the party by reason of its religious adherence to the provisions of its constitution and the tenets of internal democratic practices has taken a downturn, principally due to dictatorial and despotic tendencies of the national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who has usurped the powers of the National Executive Committee of the party.
“This may have been responsible for the admonition of Mr President who insisted that the party organs at the state, LGA and ward levels must be strengthened and accorded due respect with regard to the powers and responsibilities conferred on them by the constitution of the party.
«Most unfortunately, the facade conducted by the national chairman today, the 22nd of November, 2019, as a National Executive Committee meeting leaves much to be desired. He completely ignored Mr President’s advice and rather defied all known rules for meetings by precluding opinions from members and ending the meeting abruptly without achieving anything. This is most unfortunate and undesirable.
“Arising from the foregoing and having regards to the huge responsibilities bestowed on us as officers of the party and in the overriding interest of our members, we are left with no option but to demand that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole resign his position as national chairman in order to stem the slide and provide an enabling environment for genuine healing, reconciliation and the practice of true democracy within the party across the country.”
The press conference had in attendance state chairmen of the party, including Bala Kangiwa (Kebbi), Habibi Sara (Jigawa), Ade Adetimehin (Ondo), Abdullahi Abbas (Kano), Abba Yaro (Benue) and Omotosin Paul (Ekiti).
Others are Mohammed Jibril Iman (Niger), Anslem Ojezua (Edo), Philips Shekwo (Nasarawa), Air Commodore Ikeda (retd) (Kaduna), Lakep Dabah (Plateau), Shitu Shitu (Katsina), Isah Sadiq Acida (), among others.