The leadership crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress, APC, has continued with the reversal of the nullification of the disqualification of governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, from the party’s primary for the state guber race.
This is as the Vice-Chairman, South-South, Hilliard Eta, has been appointed to act for former governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, who was on Tuesday announced as the Acting National Chairman of the party, but was “unavoidably absent.”
A few hours ago, the Deputy National Secretary of the party, Victor Giadom, who declared himself the Acting National Chairman of the APC, announced the nullification of the disqualification of Obaseki.
Citing a court verdict, he said, he and not Ajimobi was the right person for the post.
But in a swift reaction, the National Working Committee of the party, chaired by the party’s Vice-Chairman, South-South, Hilliard Eta, said Giadom did not have the power to nullify the disqualification.
His words: “You said Chief Victor Giadom has annulled the screening of Edo State governorship aspirants. Even a properly elected chairman that is currently on suspension cannot on his own make such decision.
“Chief Victor Giadom has long ceased to be a member of the NWC. He has voluntarily resigned his membership to be able to contest as deputy governorship candidate of our party.
“And, at no time, I superintend over the south-south, and at no time did I present Giadom again to come to the NWC. You can check all the records and you will see that this is the fact.
“I’m very sure that if Chief Victor Giadom had been a young man he would have enrolled into the military and conducted a coup and become a military administrator or a sole administrator of whatever but not in the party of change or progress that we are in.”
Announcing the appointment of Eta to act for Ajimobi, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a statement said: “The National Working Committee, NWC, of the All Progressives Congress, APC, rose from a meeting at the party’s national secretariat on Wednesday affirming Senator Abiola Ajimobi as the Party’s Acting National Chairman following the Appeal Court’s ruling affirming the suspension of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as National chairman and in line with Section 14.2 (iii) of the Party’s Constitution.
“Due to Senator Ajimobi’s unavoidable absence, NWC unanimously appointed the Party’s National Vice Chairman (South South), Prince Hilliard Etta to act on Sen. Ajimobi’s behalf, an action backed by the Party’s constitution which empowers the NWC to appoint one of its members in acting capacity and stipulates that the Acting National Chairman must be from the zone of the National Chairman.”
