President
Muhammadu Buhari has declared support for the controversial deputy national
secretary of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), Victor Giadom, who has called a
virtual National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party for Thursday.
Speaking through his spokesperson,
Garba Shehu, on Wednesday afternoon, the president said he would attend the
meeting because “the law is on the side of Victor Giadom as Acting National
Chairman.”
“The President has received very
convincing advice on the position of the law as far as the situation in the
party is concerned and has determined that the law is on the side of Victor
Giadom as Acting National Chairman.
“We urge the media to stop promoting
manufactured controversies and to not give any further room for mischievous
interpretations of the law on this matter.
“In addition to the President, the
Giadom meeting will, hopefully, be attended by our Governors and the leaders of
the National Assembly,” Mr Shehu wrote on his Twitter account.
Mr Giadom, who is believed to have
the backing of some of the party’s governors and the Minister of Transport,
Rotimi Amaechi, has been in a tussle with a faction of the party’s National
Working Committee (NWC) for the control of the party since the appeal ourt
upheld the suspension of Adams Oshiomhole as the national chairman, last week
Tuesday.
Mr Giadom, citing a court judgement
in March, declared himself the acting national chairman of the party in the
absence of Mr Oshiomhole.
Hilliard Eta, the party’s National
Vice Chairman (South-south) is leading the main faction of the NWC, who had
earlier appointed the deputy national chairman (south), Abiola Ajimobi, as
interim chairman.
Mr Giadom was surreptitiously replaced on Monday
by Worgu Boms, 24 hours after the Rivers State
chapter of the party declared him suspended over “gross infractions of the
party’s constitution.”
Mr
Giadom’s suspension was backed by the Rivers State High Court’s judgement on
Tuesday, some minutes after he scheduled a virtual NEC meeting to be attended
by Mr Buhari for Thursday.
In reaction to the speculated NEC
meeting, the party’s acting national secretary, Waziri Bulama, backed by 16
other members of the NWC said Mr Giadom lacks the constitutional right to call
such a meeting.
“We are constrained to once again
react to a purported invitation to a National Executive Committee meeting of
our great party; the All Progressives Congress (“APC”) issued by one Victor
Giadom who until the last general elections in 2019 held the position the
Deputy National Secretary of the Party.
“Our esteem members are advised to
disregard this invitation because the author and sole signatory of the said
invitation is not member of the National Working Committee (“NWC”) of our
party, talk more of being an Acting National Chairman as claimed,” Mr Bulama
said in a statement issued earlier on Wednesday.
However, Mr Buhari has declared his
support for Mr. Giadom and promised to attend Thursday’s meeting of the NEC of
the party.
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