Oshiomhole vs Amosun: Ogun APC dares NWC, says you can’t dissolve us

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State has dismissed its dissolution by the party’s National Working Committee.

Premium Times reported the decision of the NWC headed by the party’s national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, to dissolve the APC at all levels of government in Ogun State.

The Ogun APC is loyal to the state governor, Ibikunle Amosun, who has been at loggerheads with Mr Oshiomhole since the party’s controversial primaries.

Mr Amosun, who is still an APC senatorial candidate in the state, encouraged his allies, including a governorship aspirant who lost in the primaries, to defect to another party. He has pledged to work against the APC in the governorship election in the state.

The APC national spokesperson, Lanre Issa-Onilu, confirmed the dissolution  on Wednesday.

“So those excos, right from the state to the ward level are not people we can trust to work honestly, for the success of our party in the next election,” Mr Issa-Onilu said.

In his response, the chairman of the dissolved Ogun APC executive, Derin Adebiyi, described the dissolution as “an exercise in futility.”

He said the matter was sub judice, “as it is before a court of competent jurisdiction, presided over by Hon. Justice Jude Okeke of the FCT High Court, Abuja.”

Read Mr Adebiyi’s full statement below.

The Ogun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed its dissolution by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, as an exercise in futility, noting that the state chapter of the party remains in office and is carrying out its legal duties in line with the constitution of the APC.

It said the matter was sub judice, as it is before a court of competent jurisdiction, presided over by Hon. Justice Jude Okeke of the FCT High Court, Abuja.

In the Suit No CV/363/2018, the Ogun State chapter of the party is seeking the protection of the court against attempts by the NWC to undermine it and abridge its tenure in any form.

According to a statement signed by the Chairman of the state chapter of the party, Chief Derin Adebiyi, “The Ogun APC views its purported dissolution as a brazen disregard for the judiciary, hence the Nigerian constitution and flagrant abuse of power by the Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee.

“The action of the NWC is patently illegal; it is an assault on the APC constitution and outside the bounds of acceptable standards in the conduct of party affairs the world over. It was such acts of impunity that led us in the first place to seek legal protection for a four-year mandate freely given to us by the overwhelming majority of party members in Ogun State in May 2018. There is no iota of truth in the charge of anti-party activities levelled against us, as we remain committed to the ideals of the APC, ” Adebiyi said.

The party chairman further posited that “You cannot dissolve a legally constituted body, such as Ogun APC exco on a whim. When a matter is in court, all parties are expected to maintain the status quo. What Oshiomhole-led NWC has done amounts to self-help and bare-faced attempt to render nugatory the judicial powers granted the courts by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

According to him, “We condemn this attempt to foist a faith accompli on the judiciary, undermine its powers and turn it into a toothless bulldog. The NWC is legally represented in the present suit. We urge it to allow the judicial process to run its full course.”

The statement urged party faithful in Ogun State to remain calm as “the Derin Adebiyi-led APC exco remains in office for the good of our great party.”