The Thursday dissolution of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) may no longer be challenged in court by aggrieved members after all.
The former NWC members have jettisoned their initial threat to go to court and have now resolved to work for the rebuilding of the party,the immediate past National Secretary of the party, Mallam Waziri Bulama, said yesterday.
He attributed the crisis to the ambitions of some leaders .
He also said the failure of all organs of the party to function effectively affected the party.
But he was optimistic that the APC would not break up despite the crisis at hand.
Also on Friday, the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, declared that alleged threats by some members of the dissolved National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to challenge the dissolution in court were created by the media.
The chairman of the Caretaker/Convention committee of the party, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, is understood to have commenced efforts to reach out to stakeholders of the party to bury their hatchets and rally round his committee to rebuild the party.
Reviewing the events of the last few days including the NWC dissolution and reactions of some party members, Bulama said the sacked NWC has already accepted the Thursday decisions of the National Executive Committee, would not go to court and would defer to Buhari.
Bulama spoke to some media in Abuja.
He said: “Following consultations with our leaders all the stakeholders, we have accepted the decision of the President on the dissolution of NWC and the setting up of a Caretaker Committee headed by Governor Mai Mala Buni.
“We are respecting the President. We are not antagonistic. All the views we expressed were in the light of the constitution of the party.”
Asked of plans to go to court, he said: “Consulting our leaders and stakeholders does not mean going to court. We have no such plans.
“We are putting aside all constitutional and legal processes in the overall interest of the party. We have respect for authority, we appeal to all the stakeholders not to escalate the crisis in the party. We will cooperate with Buni’s committee which will organize a convention in the next six months.”
Tracing the origin of the crisis, Bulama said all the organs of the APC collapsed giving rise to problems of all sorts.
“This is what is propelling some segments of the party in struggling to take control of the party because some elements within the Nigerian political elite see the political party as only within the limited scope of a function of a party as a special purpose vehicle for elections; thinking that if they seize control of the party and without Buhari, they can steer the party in one direction or the other,” he said.
“And this, actually and truly, is one of the philosophical and political issues and tensions we are facing in the party. There is no doubt about that. But certainly, the party can withstand this.
“The court cases were triggered by some of these interests some of which are political, some personal. For instance, political ambition, someone thinks that if he takes over the party, he can use it for this purpose or that. He or she wants to secure election in the local government, state, or the national level and use it to his own advantage. This can trigger agitation within the party.
“And this can make people to mobilize, lead to demonstration. They may even go to court or release information to the media direct. All these are interests; some of which are political, economic and even personal are the things that derive agitation and conflict within the party. But the party’s constitution has already provided for conflict resolution.”
He said APC would not break up contrary to the expectations in some quarters.
His words: “There are various people and groups in the party with different needs and aspirations. There are some who want power; there are people who only want empowerment; there are those who want influence, employment; some want respect and acknowledgement. The interests in a party are very diverse and varied
“And when I say these pressures, interests and demands within the 16 million registered members cause no threat to the survival of the party, I am talking with authority.
“I have not seen threats of breakup of this party. But I have seen pressures, tensions to occupy one post or the other especially calls for why is there no NEC, why is there no this and that? I am saying that all the 14 organs had been in comatose.”
He said the party organs had not been functioning well culminating in the stress it was facing.
He said: “The party has 14 organs from the polling unit committee to the national convention. But, you see, in the last two years all these organs have not been activated.
“People talk about NEC.What about the Zonal Executive Committee (ZEC), or the State Executive committee (SEC), Local Government Executive committee (LEC) or the Ward Executive Committee which is WEC? All of them have not been meeting, they have not been discussing party issues, they have not been discussing community and national issues; they have not been sending reports to the leadership for evaluation, to influence policies or to assure members and so on.
“For instance, the constitution says that the NEC of the party should meet every three months; they have not been meeting. What is responsible for that? The reason is neither Buhari nor Oshiomhole nor anybody. The circumstances in which we found ourselves led to that.
Bulama spoke of efforts made by President Buhari and other APC leaders to persuade Governor Godwin Obaseki to resolve Edo crisis.
He said it was unfortunate that the interventions did not work.
“As a party, we did everything humanly possible to appeal to the feuding sides in Edo State. Obaseki was on one hand and other stakeholders on the other.
Those stakeholders included the 14 members of the House of Assembly that he decided to lock out because he inaugurated the state House of Assembly with only nine members. For the past one year, he has been running the state House of Assembly with the Speaker nominated by only nine members.
“There was nothing that was not done by all stakeholders of our party from our top leadership to other stakeholders like the governors, APC Governors’ Forum and the National Assembly to bring these stakeholders together: the governor and 14 House of Assembly members, the governor and five National Assembly members, the governor and House of Representatives members led by Hon. Julius Ihonvbare, the governor and the senator from Edo North, the governor and other stakeholders of the party.
“Severally, President Muhammadu Buhari talked to Obaseki and he appealed to all the stakeholders. The APC Governors Forum sent a delegation led by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje. The party set up a committee led by the Senate President, Obaseki said he did not want by claiming that the Senate was biased .They sent another team.
“Look, all these options and others were explored but unfortunately all these did not work and it led to a point, regrettably, where Obaseki left the party.”
Lending credence to Bulama’s statement that there would be no litigation over the dissolution of the NWC,one of its members and the immediate past National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu yesterday drummed support for the Buni led Caretaker committee of the party.
Issa-Onilu said yesterday that having reflected on the events of the past few days and the outcome of Thursday’s NEC meeting “as a party man, I declare my support for the actions taken by Mr. President”.
He observed that the party was ominously hanging on a cliff and as expected, “something had to give way because the APC could not have continued along that obvious path of destruction”.
The Kwara born politician who said he was speaking for himself and not the dissolved NWC, called on every member of the party to rally round the Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee led by Governor Mai Mala Buni, as they embark on the process of rebuilding our party to the height we all desire.
“Ours must be a party that is strong and truly progressive; one that can provide our government the support it requires to deliver more dividends of democracy.
We all have the obligation to subordinate our individual interests to the collective interests of our government and country.
“The task of preserving President Muhammadu Buhari’s unprecedented legacies is not negotiable,” he said.
