*As appeal panel considers wading into disputed
congresses
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it may
consider wielding the big stick on those responsible for the disruption of its
Ekiti State governorship primary held last Saturday.
The governorship primary was aborted midway when
some of the party stakeholders stormed the venue and tore open the ballot box
in protest over alleged malfeasance by the committee conducting the election.
Speaking to journalists on Monday, the National
Publicity Secretary of APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdulahi, said the leadership of the
party has received report from the leader of the electoral panel, Governor
Tanko Al' Makura.
He said the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party
would be meeting last night to consider its recommendations.
Abdulahi said the NWC would especially consider the issues
that resulted in the primary election being aborted, adding that based on the
report and video evidences of what transpired, it may decide to sanction those
found culpable.
According to him, "We just received a report
from the Chairman of the committee, AlMakura, whom we sent to the state to conduct
the governorship primary.
“He gave us a full report orally and submitted a
written report of what transpired in Ekiti State.
"They also made specific recommendations which
gave the NWC a couple of options on how to proceed. The NWC is meeting tonight to
consider the report, and tomorrow morning, we will be able to make our
decision clear on how to proceed."
The spokesman further said anyone found to have been involved
in the disruption of the primary election would likely be sanctioned.
"What I can assure you is that the individuals who took
part in disrupting the exercise in the state had been fully identified, and we
know the people that they represent at the event. If we find them culpable
accordingly, the principal they represent will be disqualified from the
exercise and the individuals who participated in disrupting the exercise will be
fully prosecuted. That is what I can tell you at the moment. But tonight, we
will meet to consider the report and we will make our decision known and send
the team back to Ekiti as part of the way forward," he said.
On whether the party will change the team that conducted the
primary, Abdulahi noted that it is unlikely to happen.
Also responding to the charge that the exercise was
marred by money rain, Abdulahi said the party would take appropriate step if anyone
is found culpable.
"If we consider the report and find anything
that may have contributed to the disruption of the process by what you have
said, of course, we will take appropriate decision. At the moment, we don't
have anything to suggest that it was part of what disrupted the exercise.
"Don't forget that we have only one week to
submit a candidate's name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“So, we don't have sufficient time to begin to set up
a new committee. In essence, there is nothing available to us to suggest that
the current committee is incapable of carrying out the assignment. Therefore,
there will be no reason to change it,” the party spokesman said.
He explained that the party would also decide if the
five local government areas where elections were already conducted will be
allowed to stand.
Abdullahi noted that "those are part of the
options that will be considered when we meet tonight and that is why I said you
should be patient. By tomorrow (today), we will be able to tell you clearly how
we will proceed. But we have to take all these in context. Don't forget that
other aspirants will also submit their own reports. When we take all these
together, we will be able to decide how to proceed. If we have sufficient
reasons to take action on the exercise, we will.
"As we speak, the five ballots that have been
conduct are in custody of the police in the state intact. Nobody has tampered
with them."
On the issues of the complaints trailing ward
congresses of the party held last weekend, Abdulahi said the leadership would wait
to revive reports from various committees before taking any position.
He said all appeal committees have started working
in all the states and that every member has been encouraged to take their
complaint to the committee.
"The report we have received so far is that
there are a couple of disruption across the country. In the conduct of he
overall exercise, we have situations in a number of places. But we cannot take
decision in them until the committee's that were sent to conduct those exercise
report back officially about what transpired and the report of the appeals
committee that started sitting today,” Abdulahi stated.
No comments:
Post a Comment