It became clearer yesterday why 10 out of 12 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) have been angling to remove national secretary of the committee, Sen John James Akpanudoedehe.
LEADERSHIP Sunday checks revealed that the ‘vote of no confidence’ passed on the APC national scribe is the result of the proceedings of the first meeting chaired by Niger State governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, in acting capacity while national chairman of the caretaker committee and Yobe State governor was out of the country on medical vacation.
It was learnt that Akpanudoedehe was “clearly a victim of loyalty and caught in the powerful and intricate web of trying to balance competing interests in the party’s favour.”
A leaked memo signed by the 10 members of the caretaker committee which was made public on Thursday showed that a vote of no confidence was passed on the Akpanudoedehe as part of the process to perfect his sack.
A member of the committee who acted as spokesman under Governor Bello, Barr Ismaeel Ahmed, had also informed journalists in an unsigned statement that the decision to sack Akpanudoedehe was “in the best interest of the party”.
But a prominent chieftain of the governing party privy to meeting disclosed told this paper that the brawl between Akpanudoedehe and the then acting chairman of the caretaker committee, Governor Bello, stated when the national secretary refused to sign certain documents, especially the letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) informing it of an emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party which was rejected by the commission.
This confirms a report by our sister publication, LEADERSHIP, last week Tuesday that Akpanudoedehe angrily stormed out of the caretaker committee meeting presided over by Governor Sani Bello who had been presiding over the affairs of the party since penultimate Monday when he declared that he was now acting chairman of the party in the absence of Buni who was out of the country.
The paper had reported that Akpanudoedehe who angrily left the meeting halfway following a disagreement with Governor Sani Bello drove out of the secretariat before returning to move some of his personal belongings from his office.
Our source who did want his name in print told our correspondent yesterday Akpanudoedehe refused to sign the documents because he felt it would have countered the authority of Governor Buni, the national chairman, who was on a medical leave, and aided his ouster in what was a carefully plotted palace coup by some governors.
The source stated: “As widely reported in the media, Akpanudoedehe stormed out of the inaugural meeting chaired by the then CECPC Acting Chairman and reports were wrongly spread in the media that he had resigned. Akpanudoedehe promptly denied resigning.
“Recall that shortly into the acting National Chairman’s tenure subtle intrigues began to play out, and along with other members of the Caretaker Committee, a plot to oust the substantive Chairman began to unfold. The conspirators masked their plot behind a desire for the Party to accelerate activities in its march towards the National Convention, and sponsored allegations of the Party’s slow progress.”
Akpanudoedehe, it was gathered, was induced with a mouth watering offer but refused to play along in the coup plot. He told journalists that it would have amounted to stabbing the party’s chairman in the back.
The source further noted: “But he stood by Governor Buni, the CECPC national chairman, and the party rules, insisting that the party be administered in line with the chairman’s directives.
This act of loyalty earned Akpanudoedehe the ire of the ten members of the Caretaker Committee, who executed their stiff penalty against him by passing a vote of no confidence on him.
“What they failed to note is the fact that they had no power to oust Senator Akpanudoedehe, as only the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party which put him in office, could oust him.”
Also speaking on the purported sack of the national secretary, a constitutional lawyer, Eyibio Udo, said the vote of no confidence passed on him by his colleagues was illegal.
The legal practitioner said, “The purported vote of no confidence of 8th March, 2022 on the secretary of the caretaker committee is null and void ab initio. The procedure adopted by two–third of the members of the CECPC was ultra vires their powers and was not in conformity with the Party Constitution.
“Article 17 (v) of our Party Constitution which spells out the procedure to be adopted when passing a “vote of no confidence” on an officer of the Party provides as follows: ‘Subject to ratification by the National Convention or Congress an Officer shall be relieved of his post at any time if a vote of “No Confidence” is passed on him by two-thirds of the members of the relevant Party organ.
“From the above quoted provision of the party constitution, it is clear that the power to pass a ‘vote of confidence’ is vested in Party Organs and same cannot be exercised by the CECPC occasioned by the fact that the Committee is not an Organ of the Party.
“All duly recognized organs of the party are listed in Article 11 of the Party Constitution and the CECPC is clearly not mentioned therein. The caretaker committee is not an Organ of the Party but an ad-hoc Committee created by the National Executive Committee, and therefore the CECPC cannot exercise powers applicable to recognized Organs of the Party.
“We must all be reminded that the Party Constitution is supreme and binding on all members of the Party.”
He recalled the directive of President Buhari as that the leadership of the CECPC should immediately return to status quo ante and should equally be allowed to proceed with all necessary preparations to hold the convention unfailingly.
“The implication of the directives from Mr. President is that the original constituted membership of the CECPC should be allowed to finish their mandate and conduct the National Convention Scheduled for the 26th day of March, 2022”, he added.
