The controversy generated by the release of the 422-member All Progressives Congress APC Presidential Campaign Council is yet to abate following a caustic letter written by the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee NWC to its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In the letter obtained in the wee hours of Thursday, Adamu accused Tinubu of breaching the agreement he had with the NWC with regard to the composition of the campaign council.
The composition of the council had been serially delayed as the NWC was said to have set up a three-member committee to interface with Tinubu’s team.
The NWC members were the National Organising Secretary, the National Legal Adviser and Deputy Women Leader which was set up to harmonize the council membership list with Tinubu’s team.
NWC’s Recommendations
The recommendations of the NWC team are to have Senator Adamu as Deputy Chairman of the Council; the APC Deputy National Chairman (North), Senator Abubakar Kyari as Deputy Regional Coordinating Chairman (North) and his counterpart in the South, Hon. Emma Eneukwu as Deputy Regional Coordinating Chairman (South).
The demand also includes having APC National Secretary, Sen. Iyiola Omisore as Vice Chairman (Party Affairs); the National Organizing Secretary, Alhaji Sulaiman Argungu as Deputy Director-General (Organizing); the APC National Vice Chairman (South South), Hon. Victor Giadom as Deputy Zonal Campaign Coordinator, South-South and the APC National Vice Chairman (South West) as Deputy Zonal Campaign Coordinator of the zone.
Others are APC National Vice Chairman (South East) as Deputy Zonal Campaign Coordinator; APC National Vice Chairman (North Central) as Deputy Zonal Campaign Coordinator; APC National Vice Chairman (North East) as Deputy Zonal Campaign Coordinator and APC National Vice Chairman (North West) as Deputy Zonal Campaign Coordinator of the zone.
The NWC team was said to have also recommended the creation of more directorates like the Directorate of Media Relations to be headed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary; Directorate of Compliance to be headed by the National Legal Adviser; Directorate of Organizing, Contact and Mobilization to be headed by the National Organizing Secretary.
“The NWC also wants the National Women Leader to coordinate the Women Wing; the National Youth Leader to be in charge of Youth Wing and the National Leader, People With Disabilities (PWD) to coordinate people with disabilities in the Presidential Campaign Council PCC”, said a top-ranking party official who pleaded anonymity.
However, in the letter Adamu wrote to Tinubu in London, the party said the presidential candidate is operating solo whereas winning elections is supposed to be a collaborative effort.
The letter reads
“On behalf of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), I present my compliments to Your Excellency, and have the honour to convey to you, in truth and respect, the Committee’s opinion and position, regarding the above-mentioned subject matter, with a view to having a clear understanding about the respective roles and responsibilities of the principal organs of the Party charged with the duties of conducting the campaigns in the forth-coming general elections.
“This correspondence has become necessary in view of developments that took place over the last few days around the purported appointments into the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) that was announced precipitately by officials of the Council, without making recourse to the NWC for approval. All along, the NWC had been disposed towards the campaign in a cooperative spirit that is driven by the overall interest of the Party and the singular desire of victory for our candidates, in the persons of your esteemed self and your running mate.
“It is against this background that the NWC received with astonishment and regret, the press release by the PCC on 23rd September 2022, in which a purported list of appointees was announced, which effectively served as the approved roster of participants in the Party’s Presidential Campaign Council.
“The purported list not only came as a complete surprise to the NWC and the Party’s leadership, but also contravened the principles and purposes of the arrangements that you and I had led towards the adoption of the Organogram of the PCC, and its principal officials.
“Perhaps it has become necessary owing to the passage of time, that I should draw Your Excellency’s attention to the agreements that we reached in principle around the final adoption of the PCC l
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