APC crisis: Sacked Deputy National Secretary Giadom ‘Convenes’ APC NEC Meeting

Victor Giadom, the sacked deputy national secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has issued a notice for the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the APC.

However, a top official of the party said on Tuesday night that Mr Giadom was an impostor and should be disregarded by Nigerians.

The APC, Nigeria’s ruling party, has been thrown into a leadership crisis after the Court of Appeal upheld the suspension of its national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, a few days ago.

Following the court ruling, Mr Giadom, defiant to a decision of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC, declared himself the acting chairman of the party. He said he was backed by a court order.

The NWC had appointed the deputy national chairman (South), Abiola Ajimobi, the acting chairman.

Mr Giadom, while declaring himself chairman, went ahead to announce the ‘cancellation’ of the APC screening which led to the disqualification of the Edo governor, Godwin Obaseki, from contesting the party governorship primary in Edo state. But Mr Obaseki defected from the APC to the PDP where he hopes to secure a ticket to run for re-election in September.

In a letter he sent on Tuesday to the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr Giadom said the APC NEC meeting would take place by 10 a.m. on Thursday at the Presidential Villa.

The letter was personally signed by him.

A stamp on a copy of the letter seen by PREMIUM TIMES indicates that INEC has received the letter.

A notice of the NEC meeting, still signed by Mr Giadom, however, indicates that the meeting would be a virtual one. Mr Giadom said he would send the code for the meeting to members of NEC.

Hilliard Eta, the National Vice Chairman (South-South), who is standing in for the acting chairman, Mr Ajimobi, who is hospitalised at the moment, told journalists Tuesday night, “As we speak, the membership of Victor Giadom has been suspended by a competent court of jurisdiction in Port Harcourt this afternoon.

“Not only is he no longer a member of the NWC, for today, his membership has been suspended,” Mr Eta added.

The APC national spokesperson, Lanre Issa-Onilu told PREMIUM TIMES, Wednesday morning, that the APC constitution states clearly who has the powers to call for NEC meeting and that journalists should be aware of this, “so they could interrogate Giadom further on his locus”.

The APC’s NEC consists of 39 statutory members.

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, including the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the APC governors are members of the APC NEC.

There was a push for the party’s NEC to hold in March, which would have decided the fate of Mr Oshiomhole, but for the intervention of Mr Buhari, who postponed it indefinitely.

Meanwhile, a High Court in Rivers State has reportedly barred Mr Giadom from parading himself as an officer or a member of the APC.

The court ruled that Mr Giadom should not participate in the activities of the APC since he has been “suspended” by the leadership of the party in Rivers state where he hails from, The Nation newspaper reported.

The power tussle between Bola Tinubu, who is regarded as the APC national leader, and Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation, is tearing the APC apart.

Mr Giadom is Mr Amaechi’s political ally.

As the APC crisis continues to degenerate, some Nigerians are concerned about when the crisis would likely come to end. PREMIUM TIMES asked the party’s spokesperson, Mr Issa-Onilu, to speak on the matter.

“I am also worried, I am a Nigerian as well,” Mr Issa-Onilu responded.

“I am also worried because the government needs to focus on governance and this can be a huge distraction.

“But you have people whose interests differ, it is not about the mandate we have, it is about their own ambition. They would do anything to achieve whatever they want to achieve. And we have a responsibility to live up to the principles of our party and we have to stand by the truth,” he said