Akwa APC Disowns Akpabio As Leader, Says; “We Didn’t Authorize Sunday’s Stakeholders’ Meeting Where He Was Declared As Party Leader”
The State Working Committee (SWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State has disowned the last Sunday Stakeholders meeting of the party in which the Minister of Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio was appointed leader of the party in the State, no other person had no right in the party’s constitution to call a stakeholders meeting without the approval of the state Chairman.
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The SWC said “the stakeholders’ meeting convened by its member and former military governor of Ogun and Rivers states, Group Captain Sam Ewang (Rtd) and its entire resolution was null and void, as such actions were products of illegality.”
WazobiaReporters reports that Sam Ewang had on Sunday, March 28, 2021 issued a statement calling for a stakeholders’ meeting for a crucial decision to be taken.
The Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Nkereuwem Enyongekere, had issued a press statement, saying that Ewang did not have the powers to announce and circulate notice and to convene stakeholders’ meeting of APC in the state.
He said; “We concede the right of His Excellency, Group Captain Sam Ewang to convene his personal meetings to advance any political or group interest which meets his approval. But such meeting must not be given inappropriate tag such as ‘APC Stakeholders Meeting’ but must be limited to its true nature as a pressure group meeting to avoid abuse and creating confusion in the party.
“On that note, all APC Stakeholders, party leaders, party structures at all levels, members and the general public are hereby put on notice to discountenance the purported stakeholders meeting and act accordingly,” the party added.
The meeting went ahead anyway, where Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs accepted the call to lead the party in the state.
“I have accepted your call, and your life will never be the same again,” he said. “Betrayal has ended today, lack of direction has ended today. We are going to surprise those who want to be surprised. We have the capacity, we have the followership, we have the intellect and we have all it takes to win election for the APC in Akwa Ibom State.”
Prior to his acceptance to lead, Akpabio noted that he is one of the leaders of the APC in Akwa Ibom, adding that there are other leaders alongside himself including Chief Don Etiebet, Obong Umana Okon Umana, Obong Nsima Ekere, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe and Atuekong Inibehe Okorie, but that there was no clear head.
He applauded Captain Sam Ewang for convening the meeting, saying, “Your Excellency, you have started a revolution for the unity of the APC in Akwa Ibom”.
The former Akwa Ibom Governor disclosed that the APC would be meeting frequently, and added this line: “Anybody who says he will not attend the meeting, we would know the person is not a member of the APC. Note, we are talking about Akwa Ibom State.”
He stressed that he was qualified to lead the APC in Akwa Ibom, saying, “I am CGMS+ [the plus sign is pronounced Dagger]”.
According to Akpabio, C stands for Commissioner where he served in three key ministries for four years; G stands for governor where he led Akwa Ibom for eight years; M is his position as the Minority Leader of the Senate when he represented the Akwa Ibom Northwest Senatorial District; S stands for Senator and the Dagger, his current position as the Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
However, rising from its emergency meeting at the party secretariat, in Uyo, on Tuesday, the SWC reiterated its stance on the ‘illegal’ meeting, saying Ewang or any other person had no right in the party’s constitution to call a stakeholders meeting without the approval of the state Chairman.
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Speaking at the meeting the State Chairman, Dr. Ita Udosen stated that such resolution cannot stand.
Udosen said, “After consultations with our legal department, we want to respectfully inform him that he did not have such powers and he doesn’t have such powers to do that.
“I have to tell you that at national level in APC, there is no BoT. It has never been appointed, no caucus has been inaugurated and at the state level, we have not inaugurated that. This is because, whatever we do we take the offshoot from the National Chairman.
“If I may refer you to the Party’s Constitution, Article 25 page 89 of October 2014 as amended, you will discover that the power to convene any party meeting, call it APC stakeholders’ meeting, solely rests on the State Chairman of the party, the State Working Committee and the State Executive Council.
“On Friday evening, HE Sam Ewang requested for stakeholders’ meeting from the party but the party said no, let us meet with our leaders first on Saturday then by Easter Monday when all leaders will be in town, we can then have a stakeholders meeting but he (Ewang) insisted. He went ahead and summoned a stakeholders meeting.To shock you, the attendance was very anaemic.
Consequently, the party has summoned Mr Sam Ewang to appear before it for explanations over his act of illegality.
