Following persuasions and trade-offs, the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello finally accepted Honourable Duro Meseko to be sworn in as Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Meseko and four others finally took the oath of office as national and zonal officers of the All Progressives Congress on Friday night.
Checks revealed that Governor Bello and the member of the House of Representatives representing Ikeja Federal Constituency, James Abiodun Faleke have been engaged in a power tussle over nominations for national officers from Kogi state.
Faleke, incidentally from Kogi state dropped his gubernatorial ambition for the APC ticket before the party primary that produced Ahmed Ododo as governorship candidate.
The APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje could not conduct the swearing-in of Meseko and five others on Thursday as Governor Bello and two senators from his state stormed the party national secretriat in protest. The Kogi State Governor also rejected another nominee from Kogi State for the office of North Central Zonal Organizing Secretary of the party, Ikani Shuaibu Okolo. Sunday Tribune checks revealed that to placate Governor Bello, Okolo was stripped of the oath of office accorded four others.
Further checks revealed that both nominees of the Kogi state governor for the positions of Deputy National Publicity Secretary and North Central Zonal Organizing Secretary were Hon. Yahaya Ade Ismail and Hon. Isiaka Musa.
Apart from Governor Bello, party chieftains from Abia and Cross Rivers State also stormed the party national secretariat to protest against the choice of Donatus Nwankpa and Mary Alile Idele as National Welfare Secretary and National Woman Leader.
While Stakeholders from Abia State led by Honourable Stanley Ohajuruka in a petition addressed to the party national chairman rejected Donatus Nwakpa, their counterpart from Cross Rivers State led by Bukkie Okaigbe maintained that a replacement for Dr Beta Edu who had since emerged as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs should have come from same Cross Rivers State, not Edo state.
Those sworn in hurriedly on Friday night included the Deputy National Chairman, North, Ali Bukar Dalori (Borno State); National Vice Chairman, North West, Garba Datti Muhammad (Kaduna State); National Legal Adviser, Prof. Abdul Karim Abubakar Kana (Nasarawa State); National Welfare Secretary, Donatus Nwankpa (Abia State); National Woman Leader, Mary Alile Idele, PhD (Edo State); and, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Duro Meseko (Kogi State).
The APC national chairman who admitted infractions in the process leading to the choice of the new national officers sworn in however assured that those who lost out in the power game in their respective states would be compensated.
He also disclosed that campaigns for off-season elections slated for November in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states would be decentralized.
He said:” There is no doubt that during the last meeting of the National Executive Committee NEC of our party, the NWC was mandated to undertake some tasks on behalf of NEC.
“We have succeeded. We consulted with stakeholders, governors and others. We know there are some aggrieved people and they are very important. We will discuss with them and I will speak later on that.
“We have taken a decision that every Wednesday, we will conduct our weekly NWC meeting. It is very important. Also, we have already made a resolution that our party as an institution will be active throughout the year and not just during election periods. Our party will have operational and functional offices right from the wards, LGs, States, Zonal and national offices as you can see. We believe we will be able to abide by all these.
“Very soon we will launch the National Campaign Councils for our three states – Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi- going into elections this year. Instead of inaugurating the councils here in Abuja, we have decided to do so in the various state capitals so that we can connect with the various stakeholders.
“All of you are competent. We have seen your credentials and you have been nominated and elected through due process by the various stakeholders and therefore we congratulate you.
“As earlier mentioned, there is no doubt that there are some people who are also competent but you can only fill a person.
“From Kogi state, we have Ismail Yahaya. We have taken note of him and he will be engaged in one way or another. We have Ikani Shuaibu Okolo from Kogi state. He too will be engaged appropriately in our government. Mrs Obinna from Abia, she took will be accommodated. Hon. Dr Stella Ekpo from Cross River. I think she is a medical doctor. She and two others from Cross River state, according to the outcome of our dialogue, will be accommodated in our government.
“With these, I think we have achieved complete agreement and dialogue. We have achieved dialogue and we have deepened dialogue within our party and this is our culture. We are not dictators but that does not mean that everyone must necessarily agree with you.”
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