Malam Salihu Lukman, a senior member of the All Progressives Congress National Working Committee, has given Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the national chairman, a seven-day deadline to call a special meeting of the National Executive Council to discuss issues within the party and ensure a smooth transition from the current administration to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s incoming one.
Lukman issued a warning that failure to call the NEC meeting would lead him to seek a court injunction to enforce compliance with the APC Constitution’s stipulations.
The warning was contained in an open letter to Adamu titled “Restoring Constitutional Order in APC – Not Negotiable” and issued by his media office in Abuja on Wednesday.
The face-off between the Kaduna politician and the APC national chairman has been a recurring case in the last one year.
Aside from repeatedly accusing Adamu of running a one-man show, the APC national vice chairman for North West lamented that he has also reduced the NWC members to a mere rubber stamp to approve important decisions he singlehandedly take.
Among other things, Adamu has also been indicted of deliberately refusing to give an up-to-date account of the party’s purse including the undisclosed billions of naira raised from the sales of nomination and expression of interest forms to aspiring contestants In line with provision of Article 13.4(iv) of the APC Constitution on financial report, income and expenditure.
Lukman stressed that it has become imperative for him to write the chairman again with a caveat following the manner Adamu had shunned previous requests to convene NEC meeting, which is to be a quarterly convergence of all relevant stakeholders.
He said, “I make this an open letter because it is about campaigning to return the APC to its foundation, which requires that we mobilise all like-minded party leaders and members in this crusade to restore constitutional order in the APC. As a person, I have concluded that everything must be done to compel you to respect the constitution of our party and manage its affairs based on the requirements of our constitution and not your personal discretion.
“Therefore, by this open letter, I am serving you notice of one week from today, being Wednesday, April 19, 2023 to take all the appropriate steps required to convene a NEC meeting before May 29, 2023 wherein all the issues bordering on the management of smooth transition between the outgoing government of President Buhari and the incoming government of President Asiwaju Tinubu can be considered.
“If by the end of this one-week notice, no action is taken to convene a NEC meeting as the first step to restore constitutional order in APC, I will not hesitate to take further actions, including approaching our courts to enforce compliance with the provisions of our party’s constitution under your leadership.
“Like I have argued in my letter to you of December 26, 2022 on the subject “Democracy and Accountability: Concerns about State of Affairs of APC”, “being a party that is committed to enthroning progressive politics as the pillars of developing our democracy and moving our nation forward, these issues should be urgently addressed. Inability to address these issues would continue to undermine our electoral viability.”
“The current NWC under your leadership should stop acting as a Trojan Horse programmed to destroy our party. Only compliance with and respect for our constitution by allowing all our superior organs, notably NEC, National Caucus and NAC, to function and take decisions accordingly, which should be binding on all party leaders and members can secure our party. This is not negotiable!”
Efforts to get the reaction of Adamu, who was a two-term governor of Nasarawa State, in the past and present have failed to yield any result.
The APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, has also been evasive and declined to comment on the leadership crisis rocking the party.
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