- Asks Lawyer To Step Down S’Court Case
- As Members Of Dissolved NWC Shelve Legal Action
By Kolawole Ojebisi
Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has finally opened up on the dissolution of the party’s National Working Committee, (NWC), following President Muhammadu Buhari’s intervention in the crisis rocking the ruling party.
Oshiomhole said he has accepted the decision of the party’s national executive committee (NEC) to dissolve the national working committee (NWC) which he led.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC had dissolved the Oshiomhole-led NWC at its extraordinary meeting held on Thursday at the presidential villa.
A Caretaker Committee chaired by Mai Mala Buni, Yobe governor and former secretary, was set up in the place of the dissolved NWC.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, Oshiomhole said he has also asked his lawyers to withdraw his appeal pending at the supreme court.
The former Edo governor was challenging a court of appeal order upholding his suspension him as chairman of the party.
Oshiomhole’s acceptance of NWC dissolution is coming some hours after members of the NWC believed to be supported by him also announced to take the resolutions of the party at the NEC meeting in good faith.
Speaking on Friday, Waziri Bulama, former national secretary of the party, said they have accepted the decision of the president on the dissolution of the committee.
“Following consultations with our leaders all the stakeholders, we have accepted the decision of the President on the dissolution of NWC and the setting up of a Caretaker Committee headed by Governor Mai Mala Buni,” Bulama said.
“We are respecting the president. We are not antagonistic. All the views we expressed were in the light of the constitution of the party. Consulting our leaders and stakeholders does not mean going to court. We have no such plans.
“We are putting aside all constitutional and legal processes in the overall interest of the party. We have respect for authority, we appeal to all the stakeholders not to escalate the crisis in the party. We will cooperate with Buni’s committee which will organize a convention in the next six months.
“This is what is propelling some segments of the party in struggling to take control of the party because some elements within the Nigerian political elite see the political party as only within the limited scope of a function of a party as a special purpose vehicle for elections; thinking that if they seize control of the party and without Buhari, they can steer the party in one direction or the other.
“The court cases were triggered by some of these interests some of which are political, some personal. For instance, political ambition, someone thinks that if he takes over the party, he can use it for this purpose or that. He or she wants to secure election in the local government, state, or the national level and use it to his own advantage. This can trigger agitation within the party.”
