Coalition: Who appointed you leaders of our party? ADC stakeholders ask David Mark, Aregbesola, others

...Demand for formal written document or existing agreement

By Chris Ochayi

Confusions in the African Democratic Congress, ADC, deepens as the party’s State Executives and other stakeholders have queried the criteria applied in the appointments of Senator David Mark as interim National Chairman and Rauf Aregbesola, the interim National Secretary of the party.

The aggrieved party members, who converged on Abuja, the nation’s capital from the various state of the federation were unequivocal in their resolution to be formerly briefed on what is befalling their dear political party.

They however insisted that if any change of leadership must occur in the party, due process must be followed in the way of convening of the National Convention to elect new leadership for the party.

They vowed that any arrangement or appointments of persons made into the ADC’s leadership in the absence of national convention monitored by the officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission, iNEC, was an exercise in futility.

Addressing a news conference after their emergency meeting held at Guzape District in Abuja, Dr. Musa Isa Matara, National Publicity Secretary, ADC (Original), who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved State Executives, Youth Leaders, Women Leaders, State Party Executives, and Ward Coordinators present, asked if there was any written agreement in the processes that produced the so-called new leadership for ADC.

According to him, “The party is not no man’s land, or to a place where we cannot even ascertain what is happening exactly, as a member of ADC and at least I am an official of ADC. I don’t know what template they use during the coalition process, I was not informed. I was not being carried along.

“I was not given the maybe the term or reference of that coalitions means that nobody now can stand and claim that there is coalition because from the onset they say there will be coalition but nobody now have the right to say or ask those people where is our coalition agreement?

“Because we don’t have a formal written document that shows this agreement is in existence. That
is the worst part of it. We want those that came into ADC. They are welcome to ADC. They are all welcome to ADC, but they should be aware that ADC is an existing political party.

“ADC is a political party that has structure right from the polling unit to Ward level to Local Government to zonal, to State up to National level. We have secretary, and that secretary has not put any notice of any official resigning from the position. We are all in our position.

“But we want to know what is this coalition? What this coalition is all about, really. Of course, coalitions, in any political party is a good idea in as much as that coalition is being done with a good faith and the members of the party has been carried along to understand the process.

“So the issue is that we are not agitating against any development. We are not agitating against any leader of the party, but we are agitating where is our right? Our right of being part of the party, our right of being members of the party, because the party, if you go there, you’ll find that the party is being promoted by youth, but youth has been excluded completely in the decision making of the party.

“Even the youth leader called me yesterday. He said, Musa, I saw your write up in a dailies. I saw your write up in Thisday. I saw in many newspapers, what happened. I said, Let me tell you today, you are not the one that asked me to do this, as you are a member of ADC.

“I’m a member of ADC. You have the right in the party. I have the right to the party. So therefore, if I disclose anything in this party, nobody can come and accuse me that why did you this? And I’m not condemning the coalition. I’m condemning the process.

“Then, if we say now, we are to agree with those people that came for coalition, were they not the one that ruled this country for some years to one position or the other? They have been ruling Nigeria. And what was their impact? What were their contributions? Did they do the right thing? Did they take Nigeria to the El dorados or to the promising land that we are expecting them to do? They have not.”

Dr. Matara, who expressed concerns over the emergence of the new leadership of ADC further stated that, “The word resignation wasn’t mentioned and nobody resigns from positions. We were not being informed even the coalition process, how the coalition started, how it was end.

“Nobody informed us. We are really happy ADC now become one of the biggest opposition party, and we are really happy for those who are interested in ADC because of our visions, because of our ideology, they come to join ADC.

“We are not in any way condemning this movement. We are welcoming them. We are really welcoming them. The issue is that, where did they get the appointment, who appointed them to become the leaders? Is it the National Working Committee? Is it the executives across the 36 state including Abuja? Is it the people who suffered and put all their lives and their resources to develop this party?”