Vice-Chairman, Lagos chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Faud Oki, has demanded cancellation of Saturday’s ward congresses in the state.Vice-C
Oki, who is also the leader of Broom Movement of Nigeria (BMN), alleged that the organising committee sidelined the State Congress Committee sent by the party’s national headquarters.
He noted that the appointment of senatorial electoral officers and local government electoral officers to serve as returning officers instead of the State Congress Committee was against the Nigerian Constitution and that of APC.
“The Organising Committee did not wait for the State Congress Committee before they started selling the forms to people they considered must be elected into offices,” Tribune quoted him as saying.
“Those who wanted to buy forms were turned back at the party secretariat until the State Congress Committee chairman directed that forms must be sold to all those who were interested in contesting.
“There were lists of candidates being bandied about as names of those that were sanctioned by our leader (Asiwaju). I made attempts and discovered that it was not true, but rather Asiwaju wanted proper, free and fair congress to hold.
“These jaundiced elements only were trying to drop his name to achieve their selfish objective, whereas he (Asiwaju) was committed to moving round to see that genuine congresses were held,” Oki said.
The party chieftain also faulted the holding of the ward congresses in 374 wards instead of 245 wards of the 20 local government areas of the state as constitutionally recognised.
He said, “Zonal Returning Officers, Local Returning Officers that were involved are alien to the constitution of the party and the rule guiding the holding of the congresses of the party. They used them as vehicles to undermine the process.
“They cannot hold because the expectation of members is that congresses should hold in 245 wards. It is the introduction of those bodies that were alien that necessitated chaos during the exercise.
“We are demanding that the State Congress Committee on behalf of the National Secretariat of our party should not accept the concocted results of the exercise. We are not appealing, we are demanding that the results be cancelled and fresh congresses organised.
“I believe the State Congress Committee has the capacity to do it. This travesty of justice we would fight. You should interpret my antecedents and pedigree to know this.”
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