Palpable Crisis is brewing the All Progressives Congress, APC over a plot to manipulate the Primaries with a ‘fake’ delegates list, POLITICS NIGERIA has gathered.
The party’s presidential convention is scheduled to hold on Monday next week in Abuja.
Stakeholders in Akwa-Ibom and Cross River states have expressed concern over the development. Chief Don Etiebet, leader of the party in Akwa-Ibom disclosed that the state chapter has been foisted with persons who did not win any election, at any congress monitored by INEC, as State Executives in Akwa Ibom State.
“Presently, we are all living witnesses to the fact that our Party has been constrained to seemingly conduct primaries that are not consistent with the provision of Section 84 (1) of the Electoral Act which states: ‘A political part seeking to nominate candidates.”
“For elections under this Act shall hold primaries for aspirants to all elective positions which shall be monitored by the Commission. In line with this provision, the Commission shall, in monitoring primaries, only recognize delegates that emerge from Congresses duly monitored by the Commission’.
“We hasten to warn, that the Akwa Ibom State challenge of using delegates that were not voted for, in line with the extant Electoral Laws if not addressed, the same delegates may be used for the Presidential primaries. Surely if that happens then the Presidential primary ruin the risk of not producing a validly nominated candidate in line with the Electoral Laws. This should not happen.”
In Cross River, a group of party faithful under the aegis “authentic delegates”, has also called on the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee NWC of the APC to ignore a ‘fraudulent’ list of national delegates sent by the Cross River State Working Committee to the national leadership.
The APC stakeholders and the authentic national delegates elected on the 17th of May 2022 also asked the NWC to follow the APC Constitution and Guidelines as it relates to the national delegates’ list submitted to the party.
A statement signed by Chief Francis Ekpenyong, on behalf of Cross River Authentic Adhoc National Delegates read in part; “The attention of members and stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress APC Cross River State Chapter has been drawn to the fraudulent, meddlesome interference and day-light theft of the mandate of members of the party in the state who was elected National delegates in the just-concluded National delegates election of 17th May 2022.”
“As members and stakeholders, we are very concerned and write to state that the party should follow its Constitution and Guidelines as it relates to the national delegate list submitted to the party. That the only valid and recognized list of elected national delegates is that of the one conducted on the 17th day of May 2022, which does not include the names of the State Working Committee Members of the party.”
He added that the purported national delegate list suggesting a parallel exercise should be ignored and disregarded as being ‘forged’ as the original national delegate list was altered and/or falsified.