Fouad Oki Writes Again; Protests Over APC Ward Congress, Appeal Committee; Read Full Letters Here

The Chairman,

c/o

The Providence by Mantis Hotel,

12, Oba Akinjobi Way,

GRA

Ikeja

ATTENTION: DR. MOHHAMED BASHIR RUWANGODIYA

RE: LAGOS STATE WARD CONGRESS HELD ON SATURDAY 31ST JULY 2021 IN ALL 245 ELECTORAL WARDS

I write on behalf of all tendencies (APC Collectives) who participated at the above instant subject matter. This letter is an immediate appeal of the purported consensus carried out by your committee in Lagos state.

For all practical purposes, all that has happened is the adoption of the list a particular faction of the party. For your information, there are not less than five tendencies in Lagos state.

Apart from the fact of nomination forms not released to those who paid, I would like to draw your attention to the following:

1. No Local Ward Congress Committee (LWCC) was constituted by your committee in flagrant disregard of the” approved schedule of activities and guidelines for the conduct of the Party’s nationwide Ward congresses scheduled for Saturday July 31, 2021” issued by the” APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) rather, you relied on a skewed list compiled by a tendency/faction led by Alhaji Tunde Balogun, who took advantage of his position as Chairman, Caretaker Committee to hijack the Ward Congress process, I dare say with your support and cooperation.

The released guidelines explicitly state that “The Ward Congress Committee (WCC) shall appoint 3 persons from any other part of the State other than the Ward in which they will serve (to be referred as Local Ward Congress Committee (LWCC). Who shall be responsible for the conduct of the Screening/Congress in their assigned Ward under the directives/supervision of the WCC. The WCC shall ensure that the exercise is all-inclusive”

2. There was no accreditation whatsoever in any of the 245 Wards across Lagos State as there was no membership register provided for the Congress

3. Notwithstanding a & b above, our members trooped out in various wards and conducted the Congress.

4. It is surprising therefore, that you went ahead to accept, a prepare list from Alhaji Tunde Balogun as the result of Congress which you did not conduct.

This serves as a formal petition on the botched exercise which your committee created in Lagos State.

Thank You,

Fouad Oki

For and on behalf of Lagos State

APC Collectives

The Chairman,

Ward Congress Appeal Committee,
Lagos State,

C/O

Plot 16, Acme Road,

Ogba Industrial Estate,

Ogba,

Ikeja.

ATTENTION: Hon. Ibrahim Akaje (Chairman)

PETITION AGAINST THE CONDUCT, ILLEGALITY AND NON-COMPLIANCE OF  THE WARD IN LAGOS STATE ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC) ON SATURDAY 31ST JULY 2021

I write on behalf of several hundreds of thousands of members of APC and tendencies under the aegis of “The APC Collectives” as well as myself being one of the aspirants to the State Congress of the State chapter wishes through this petition to draw your attention to the apparent lack of openness and fairness in the recently purported Ward Congress in flagrant violation of the Constitution of the APC and “approved schedule of activities and guidelines for the conduct of the Party’s nationwide Ward congresses scheduled for Saturday July 31, 2021” and the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

Mr. Chairman, permit me to invite your attention to the demand of this onerous assignment that you and your members are saddled with, particularly the term of reference of your assignment in your letter of appointment inter alia that: “you are expected to adhere strictly to the guidelines of the exercise and the constitution, in receiving and determination of complaints arising from the ward congresses.”

In the light of such lapses and outright breach of both the Party’s Guidelines for the conduct of the Congresses and the extant Electoral Act, we are compelled to demand a CANCELLATION of the purported Ward Congress by the Ward Congress Committee (WCC) as no Congress was conducted by the WCC in any of the 245 Wards across Lagos State on Saturday 31st July 2021.

In order to achieve a pre-determined destination, the WCC in cahoots with the State Caretaker Committee of the Party, compiled the list of Local Ward Congress Committee (LWCC) without inputs or collaboration of other tendencies in the Party which was skewed in favour of just one tendency/faction of the Party in the State. This is illegal, unfair and partial thereby making a mockery of the purported exercise in Lagos State contrary to the stipulation that “The Ward Congress Committee (WCC) shall appoint 3 persons from any other part of the State other than the Ward in which they will serve (to be referred as Local Ward Congress Committee (LWCC). Who shall be responsible for the conduct of the Screening/Congress in their assigned Ward under the directives/supervision of the WCC. The WCC shall ensure that the exercise is all-inclusive”

The Local Ward Congress Committee (LWCC) in the spirit of the guidelines is expected to screen and conduct congress in their assigned Wards. The WCC is further expected to” ensure that the exercise is all-inclusive”. Unfortunately, the purported exercise did not meet this standard. Hence, the WCC violated the APC Congress Guidelines 2021. There is a supposed APC leadership at the State under the aegis of Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) which has appropriated the powers of what clearly should have been a State Caucus, it kept members of the Party surrogated by declaring that a consensus arrangement should be forced on all members of the Party in Lagos State. I caused a letter on this to the National Secretariat of the Party, please find attached for your perusal.

The ground rules governing the Congress ought to have been agreed upon and signed by all the parties involved, and such an agreement should not only be binding on all parties but should also have been published and widely pasted on the Party’s notice board 12 hours before the commencement of the Congress. This is stipulated in the Congress Guidelines. The Congress ground rules would have been one major way to ensure that the Congress process was objective, impartial, fair, just and not programmed to produce a predetermined end. But the WCC in Lagos State refused to be guided by these basic democratic norms.

Also, the list of delegates (Membership register) who would vote at the Congress ought to have been published and widely advertised on the Party’s notice board prior to the Congress, so as to forestall the list either being tampered with or its integrity being substantially compromised. The list of delegates is crucial to the successful conduct of any Congress. It is as important as the list of Nigerian Voters which the INEC is required by law to publish before the conduct of the general election. We make bold to state that, there was no membership register available for the Congress anywhere in Lagos State.

The fact therefore, remains that NO ACCREDITATION took place anywhere in Lagos State on Saturday 31st July 2021 for the purpose of Ward Congresses. Where then and how did the WCC conducted its Congresses?

Rather, the WCC only collected names that were compiled by a particular tendency in control of the State APC Caretaker Committee. No consensus was arrived at, much less affirmation in line with the Party Constitution and the Ward Congresses guidelines.

We drew public attention to the unacceptable innuendo that GAC has directed a consensus arrangement for the Ward Congress, that our tendencies (APC COLLECTIVES) dissociate ourselves from such arrangement. A letter was written to the National secretariat appropriately. Find the annexure attached.

It was clear that members of the Ward Congress Committee (WCC) posted to Lagos State were complicit in the shenanigans where no Congress was conducted, rather WCC shut its door against anyone who had queried the modus of the Congress to Participate. This was an infraction of Section 87 of the Electoral Act 2010 (amended).

Our members wondered why preparations for the conduct of the Ward Congress appeared to be going on in extreme secrecy, thus making the entire process suspect and placing it under grave threat of manipulation by the powers that be.  With 48 hours to the Congress, we were still completely in the dark about such crucial issues as:

1.  collection of forms after payment at the Bank. No form was released to other tendencies, hence our resolve to approach the National Secretariat on Friday 30th July to collect forms with our payment tellers;
2.  There was no LWCC anywhere in all the 245 Wards to conduct the Congress, however, our members were at the various Wards conducted the Congress and attached is the list of names of officers that emerged at the various Wards.

We have carefully documented our observations as follows for your perusal and interrogation:

1. The refusal to make collection of forms easily available and seamless was orchestrated by the Lagos State APC Caretaker Committee;
2. Refusal of the WCC to ensure an all-inclusive process of appointing LWCC from all tendencies/groups in Lagos State APC;
3. Absence/ non production of a comprehensive delegate list (Membership register);
4. There was no Congress conduct by WCC in Lagos.

Therefore, pursuant to the afore-stated, our claim is as follows:

1. A declaration that, in view of Section 223(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered); Articles 20(i)(a); 33(xiii)and 33(xv) of the Constitution of the All Progressives Congress, 2014 (as amended) and the All Progressives Congress Guidelines for Wards Congresses, Congress purported to have been conducted across Lagos State by the WCC on Saturday 31st July 2021 is null, void and of no effect whatsoever for having been conducted with no cognizable election and in gross violation of Section 223(1)(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered), Section 87 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and Articles13(12) and 20(i)(a) of the Constitution of All Progressives Congress, 2014 (as amended), and the All Progressives Congress Guidelines for Ward Congresses;
2. A declaration that it is ultra vires for the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) to accept or recognise the Dr. Mohammed Bashir Ruwangodiya Committee report on the purported Lagos State Ward Congress held on Saturday 31st July 2021 as it was undemocratically produced via a process not in accordance with Section 223(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered), Section 87 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and Articles 13(12) and 20(i)(a) of the Constitution of All Progressives Congress, 2014 (as amended), and the All Progressives Congress Guidelines for Ward Congresses.

In The Alternative:

1. An Order by the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) to conduct fresh Ward Congresses in Lagos State in accordance with the All Progressives Congress Constitution; the All Progressives Congress Guidelines for Wards Congresses; the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered) and the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended);
2. An Order by the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) empanelling new Ward Congress Committee (WCC) to conduct fresh Ward Congresses in Lagos State in accordance with its powers, duties and obligations under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered) and the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended).

In view of the above, we call on Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) to jettison the result of the said purported Ward Congresses and cancel same as having not been conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered); extant Electoral Act 2010 (amended); APC Constitution 2014 (amended), and the APC Guidelines for Ward Congresses 2021.

While reaffirming the unwavering commitment and loyalty to the APC and its noble objectives.

Yours faithfully

FOUAD OKI
STATE CHAIRMAN