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One is that they are obligated by section 14 (4.2) of the APC Constitution to present the quarterly reports of their activities to NEC. Quarterly reports of activities are as we have zones, state chapters and departments. All those should have been compiled. Issues such as what has happened, what are the challenges and then based on that we go to the NEC with a fair idea of how to address those challenges for the NEC to approve and not to approve.
•Two, by the provision of Article 13 (4.4) of the APC Constitution, we are obligated by the constitution to present quarterly reports of the income and expenditure of the party. I want to say this for the records. Since we came, we have never been presented, even at the last NEC of April 2022; we have not been presented with financial reports till today. I challenge both the national chairman and the national secretary; they have never presented to the NWC any financial statement.
•The third issue is that we are expected to present a proposed national budget to the NEC for approval by the provision of Article 13, 3A.14 of the APC Constitution. I felt embarrassed when I heard the National Secretary say the budget of the party had been sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). INEC is not the approving authority of the budget of the APC. The approving authority is the NEC. Till today, we don’t have a national budget. Yet we made over N30 billion from sales of forms. Till today, as a member of the NWC and majority members of the NWC, maybe except the Financial Secretary, Treasurer or Auditor who may have inside knowledge of how much was expended on the renovation of the national secretariat of the party, we do not know what is being expended.
Talking of the national budget, we are just coming out of elections whereby we are not able to sustain past precedence. What was the past precedence? Under Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in 2019, every candidate of the party received something from the national secretariat. In this last election, no candidate of the party received a dime from the party.
Regarding finances in our constitution, the NEC is supposed to approve some form of sharing formula. I am aware that each state chapter has received about N20 million out of the N30 billion, put together that is about N700 million less than a billion which is less than three per cent of the total income that has been earned. Yet, we want to sweep this under the carpet. We are having states, zonal, local councils and ward levels that are left on their own. The whole question of funding the party has not been addressed.
•The fourth issue which I have raised is that in our constitution, article 12 (19, 20 and 21) created the women, youths and persons with disability wings. The whole idea is that these wings would have their own rules and officials.
Till today as a party, we have not sat down to even discuss or give guidelines to them in terms of how they go about doing all these things. And these are very critical because they are categories of people considered venerable groups that need to be strengthened. And we are going to NEC and that is not going to be on the agenda. It is not what the national chairman and secretary want to be on the agenda that should go to NEC and National Caucus. It should be what the NWC has approved. And I am saying till this moment the NWC has not approved any agenda. I am also saying till this moment there is no proper notice to any person who is supposed to be at that meeting. For goodness sake, we are dealing with a category of people like the President, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and his Deputy. These are very high-level people and you want them to come to the meeting without telling them what the agenda is. That is not right.
•The fifth issue is by the provision of Article 18 of the APC constitution, five standing committees have been provided-Establishment, Finance, Intergovernmental and Conflict and Reconciliation committees. Till today, we have not formed those committees. I was told at a meeting though I wasn’t there, that some proposals about membership of these committees have been presented, I am aware as of today we have not been properly notified by the leading NWC that this is the proposal going to NEC.
Yesterday, I reported to Senator Omisore that I don’t attend meetings. I challenge him to produce the attendance of all the meetings. If I had been absent from meetings throughout our tenure maybe three times. I attend the meeting. I raised issues with them because I tell them that I am a zonal officer based in Kaduna. If I was going to attend any meeting, I will give at least give eight hours’ notice. You don’t give four hours’ notice and you expect me to abandon what I am doing in the zone.
•The sixth issue is that we are just coming out of elections. A lot happened, including the dynamics that played out which we are all aware of.
There are currents within the party that didn’t want us to win the election. Anti-party activities took place in many places. For goodness sake this second-highest highest organ of the party. We should spare time and review what happened during that election and properly take decisions on how to prevent reoccurrence. We have four years. Four years is short. We have to start pig from now.
•The seventh issue is not just the case of Osun State. Osun was a disaster and that was where the national secretary hails from. I saw him yesterday shamelessly talking about a winning team. If we are a winning team, why prevent us from replicating the feat in our base? We did not only lose the governorship seat, but we also lost all the seats for the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly seats.
Osun is the only state we have that case. It is only the national secretary that is in denial of that reality. The first mark of progressive behaviour is the humility to accept your shortcomings.
I saw the national secretary talking brazenly as if he is a champion. We can’t celebrate those internal mechanisms to address the issues that are available. I didn’t make a blanket apology as is being presented.
•The other issue is the election of the presiding officers of the 10th National Assembly. You are my witness that the national chairman and national secretary said I should apologise when I sued the party.
Rather than developing guidelines as directed by the provision of Article The Section 13 (4.6) of the constitution that would guide the emergence of the leadership of the National Assembly was approached with a blanket cheque; there were no guidelines. As a result, if not for the intervention of the President, we would have walked into a disaster.
Soul-searching
Even in the meeting where governors passed a vote of confidence on the nation chairman, I am not against him or Omisore but we must have the humility to accept our failures.
This NEC and national Caucus should be used to review all the developments to prevent reoccurrence. We don’t have a situation in which we sit, the National Assembly would take decisions and then the secretariat of the party we are sending to or Tinubu would take decisions and the secret of the Nation are divulged.
•The other issue which I keep insisting on is why are we debating whether we should have meetings or not. It baffles me. My knowledge of politics is that it is about meetings. Why should politicians be afraid of meetings?
•I called for the resignation of Sen Abdullahi Adamu based on pure moral appeal, based on the dynamics that played out in the elections. But I can say, assuming we want to mutate to become a conservative party even with that kind of aspiration, I don’t think Abdullahi Adamu and Omisore are committed to leading the party based on the provision of its constitution. This is where we need soul-searching.
