Irked by alleged acts of indiscretion, which they fear could prevent the All Progressives Congress (APC) from achieving its set goals and subject it to public ridicule, the zonal chairmen of the party have moved against its leadership.
The six zonal vice chairmen of the party are accusing the party’s leadership led by its National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, which has been in office in the last three years, of lacking in transparency and accountability and generally mismanaging the affairs of the party.
In a strongly-worded memo to the party’s National Working Committee dated January 17, 2018, sent through the party’s national chairman, the zonal chairmen raised four key areas of indiscretion, which include the finances of the party, formation of ad-hoc committees, abandonment of the zones and change of party structures.
The six zonal vice chairmen who signed the memo include Chief Pius Akinyelure (Southwest), Comrade Mustapha Salihu (Northeast), Alhaji Zakari Idde (Northcentral), Inuwa Abdulkadir (Northwest), Hon. Emma Eneukwu (Southeast) and Ntufam Hilliard Eta (South-south).
In the memo, the chairmen said they had observed with dismay that the APC Constitution had been “disregarded since the inception of the NWC, especially in the formation of ad-hoc committees, among others.”
“This function, which constitutionally is the sole responsibility of the National Working Committee, has been reduced to the whims of the National Organising Secretary under the watch of the National Chairman,” they added.
The zonal chairmen specifically raised issues about the finances of the party, saying “Article 14b (iii) of the party’s constitution on finances has been grossly abused since the inception of this body. The state of the financial affairs of the party is shrouded in secrecy and lacking in transparency, such that it makes it virtually impossible for members of the National Working Committee to authoritatively defend the various expenditure and incomes.”
They alleged that the income and expenditure of the party has never been brought to the NWC for consideration and approval.
On abandonment of the zones, the chairmen lamented that structures of the party other than the national executive were not allowed to function as envisaged by the party’s constitution.
“Particularly, the Zonal Executive Committees have more often than not been bypassed by the National Chairman in many of the interventions at the state chapters without due regard to the grand norm of the party,” they said.
The zonal chairmen also said “the continuous change of party structures or officers without due respect and/or recourse to the constitution of our great party is very rife,” describing such as scandalous and abnormal.
According to them, “the frequency and brazenness with which the changes take place without due authorization from relevant organs of the party is intolerable. Kano, Kaduna, Gombe and Ondo chapters are critical examples.
“Given this misnomer, the structures of the party in the affected jurisdictions have continuously been weakened.”
The chairmen then demanded that the constitution of the party be adhered to in the remaining tenure of the NWC, saying all ad-hoc committees must be constituted as envisaged by the party constitution.
They demanded that the National Financial Secretary of the party should immediately furnished the NWC with the revenue and expenditure profile of the party, adding that effort must be made to fund the zonal structures of the party.
“The NEC-approved sharing formula of 50% to the National Secretariat, 40% to the states and 10% to the zones from all revenues accruable to the party must be implemented forthwith,” they added.
They said that changes in the party structures at any level should be done as intended by the party’s constitution while also demanding that all earlier actions taken in this regard without constitutional backing be reversed.
