The All Progressives Congress (APC) ward congress appeal committee has arrived in Ekiti State, where it ruled out the possibility of making recommendations to the party on sharing of positions.
Stakeholders in the party under the auspices of the South West Agenda for Asiwaju 2023 (SWAGA) had rejected the conduct of the July 31 congress in the state, calling on the national leadership of the party to order for a fresh exercise.
The panel said the Caretaker Committee and Extraordinary National Convention Committee headed by Governor Mai Mala Buni, has not given the committee the mandate to share positions but to listen to complaints and suggest how best to get justice for the aggrieved members.
The chairman of the appeal committee and former deputy governor of Oyo State, Chief Iyiola Oladokun, who addressed journalists at the APC secretariat in Ado-Ekiti, on Monday, said they were majorly despatched to Ekiti from the national headquarters to entertain complaints raised in respect of the congress held on 31 March.
Oladokun insisted that the committee doesn’t have the mandate to share positions to pacify the aggrieved members of the party, urging all those who have complaints about the congress to come to the committee and present their petitions.
He said: “We can only make recommendations based on what we are able to gather from both the aggrieved and winners. We are not here to apportion blames or share positions. We are here to listen dispassionately to issues and make recommendations to the national secretariat of the APC who sent us here.”
Oladokun who said the committee was yet to receive any petition from the aggrieved members as of Monday morning but reiterated their readiness to listen to members.
“And to the best of our knowledge, neither has any petition been submitted or forwarded to the APC National Secretariat from Ekiti State.
“We are here to let our members known that we are around and ready to listen to all issues that have arisen from the congress. We will entertain every petition at our state party secretariat here in Ado Ekiti,” he said.
Based on reported cases of gunshots and disruption of appeal panel sittings in some states, Oladokun assured that stringent security measures will be put in place to ensure the safety of the panellists and petitioners.
According to him, “We want to assure our members that as members of the same political family, we will listen to them. The beauty of democratic practice in politics is to listen to ourselves and do justice where necessary.
“Our people must feel free to come to us. Whatever they bring, we will look into it based on merit and make necessary suggestions to our leaders at the headquarters.”
Oladokun stated that the number of days the committee will sit on petitions would depend chiefly on the volume of petitions received from members.
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Ekiti ward congress: We are not recommending sharing of party positions ― APC appeal committee
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