Barrister Robinson Ariyo, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Delta State has appealed to Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, (SAN) to wade into the crisis now rocking the APC in the State and save the party from extinction.
He described the state of the APC in Delta State as reminiscent of the state of nature where might is right and life is short, brutish and nasty.
He called on the Professor of law quickly halt the appalling degree of mockery of the Constitution of the party and the disrespect for the judgments of courts of competent jurisdiction law that has permeated the activities of the APC in Delta State at all levels of the party leadership from the units through the wards, Local Government Councils and the State Executive Committee as well as some leaders of the state serving in the current Executive Council and other organs of government.
Barrister Robinson Ariyo made this call in his political office in Warri yesterday as part of his birthday message to the people of his constituency where he also reacted to the publication signed by one Leonard Obibi who described himself as acting Publicity Secretary of the party in the Vanguard Newspaper of 18th May, 2017 at page 25 thereat.
While noting that the demise of the former Publicity Secretary of the party has created a vacuum he said that the process of electing and/or nominating any person to fill the vacuum has to be democratic. According to him:“there is, in law, no State Executive Committee and this state of affairs has been recognized by the “Onicha Ugbo pact” which was supposed to usher in a legitimate structure within 90 days” from when the pact was made. It is therefore a shame that the drivers of that peace process appear to be dishonest people as they form part of the current disgrace called the inauguration of State Leadership Council and State caucus respectively scheduled to hold on the 26th day of May, 2017 at the party secretariat at 11: 00 am”
He further argued that the whimsical and capricious compilation of names for the respective Councils constitutes an insult to the intelligence of the majority of the members of the APC in the State who were not consulted prior to the arrangement.
“Professor YemiOsibanjo, (SAN) is a fit and proper person to intervene in this matter based on his extravagant legal background and the fact that most of the leaders of the party in the state have failed in their leadership roles duties; while some of them lack the capacity and the influence to treat the virus of lawlessness that has infected the party”
The human rights activist and politician stated further: “there exists two factions of the SEC and the Prophet Jones led SEC became illegal sequel to the judgment of court in that regard and the Party ought to immediately obey the said judgment and accordingly conduct a new congress”
He said that the conduct of the party constitutes a mockery of the mantra upon which the All Progressives Congress APC-led government of President Muhammadu Buhari was elected which is adherence to the rule of law and renunciation of impunity in any form.
According to Barrister Ariyo, the Delta State APC Chapter has become one in which every rule, regulation and constitutional provision is negotiated on the altar of “man know man"; a party which appears to have been taken over by newcomers simply because to have more money and the leadership of the party is up for sale”.
He said that it is a shame that any careful observer would rate PDP ahead of APC in the state especially in terms of the respect for the rule of law. He referred to the position of the PDP with regard to the court judgment over its leadership and said that while the Modu Sheriff led faction was ascribed all legal status and allowed to sell forms to candidates which is indicative of respect for the court judgment even though there is an appeal against that judgment; in the case of APC, the party chairman Prophet Jones who was ousted by a similar judgment was allowed to proceed to introduce an imposed candidate to the 2017 Bye election for Warri South Constituency1 and now he is being incorporated into the inauguration of councils in his capacity as chairman which is aobviously contemptuous act.
He has petitioned the Inspector General of Police and the Delta State Commissioner of Police over the planned illegal gathering of 26th may, 2017 as a gathering that is capable of breaching public peace.
He called on well meaning members of the party to stay away from such gathering which he described as irresponsible and one that will further cause rancour within a party that is already sufficiently rancorous.
He express hope that Professor Yem iOsibanjo, (SAN) would call the organizers of the said activity to order and advised the leadership of the party to revisit the “Onicha Ugbopact” if they serious about bringing peace to the party and positioning it to be a true opposition party as opposed to the current association of comedians.
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