The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday said it was working on a new constitution ahead of its national convention fixed for April.
APC noted that the constitution will check internal opposition, usher in a reconstituted Board of Trustees (BoT) as well as deal with those who derailed the plan to have its preferred candidates elected as principal officers of the National Assembly.
APC national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, made the revelation at the inauguration of a 10-member constitution review committee to be headed national legal adviser, Dr Muiz Banire.
Oyegun said: “This is the very first because of its importance of the activities in the lead-up to the non-elective national convention which, we hope, will take place within the next couple of months.
“Events in the last few months have made me read, very carefully, the provisions that we have, and to my mind, they are so weighted in favour of the ‘problem people’ within the party that it becomes extremely difficult to institute disciplinary procedures.
“I want you to take a very close look at that to make it possible for those who don’t wish the party well but dwell within the party to be speedily neutralised while the details of the cases are being looked into.
“Some of you will recall that at the last meeting of the National Executive Council, decisions were taken that necessitated a review of aspects of the constitution of the party, particularly with respect to a ‘rejigged’, so to speak, Board of Trustees, with new thoughts like the kind, size and structure of the BoT that this party should have. And so that is the principal trigger for the constitutional review.
“I will expect that at the end of the exercise, we will have a leaner, trimmer and more focused board, in terms of objectives of the party’s BoT or by whatever name you may recommend that it should be called.
“We will also look at our membership requirement, especially given our experiences in the last few months, the provisions for discipline within the party.
“We may also urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to look at other aspects of the constitution we have operated now for almost three years, at the very least, with a view to really cementing the processes and provision for permanently institutionalising internal democracy as a focus for this party because experience has shown”.
Members of the constitution review committee are Muiz Banire as chairman, Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom; minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mohammed Musa Bello; Governor Mohammed Abubakar; Hon. Asabe Bashir and Senators Osita Izunaso, Domingo Obende, Olusola Adeyeye and Inuwan Abdul-Kadir as Secretary.
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