No Going Back On Our Planned 100th NEC Meeting, INEC Has ‘Limited Role’-PDP
The nation’s leading opposition party, the PDP, submitted on Sunday that its 100th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled to hold on June 30 would be held as planned noting that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has a restricted part to play in respect of the meeting in question.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Debo Ologunagba, who said this during the press conference he presided over in Abuja on Sunday, accused INEC’s Acting Secretary, Alhaji Halilu Aminu of trying to unilaterally define the purpose of the planned NEC meeting.
Mr Ologunagba, who was reacting to the letter sent to the party by INEC, clarified that the Nigerian law and the PDP constitution, stated that the electoral umpire’s role is limited to being notified about conventions, congresses, or primaries where party officials or candidates are elected.
‘INEC has no role in the regular meetings of the NWC or NEC.
These are internal party matters, as clearly established by the Supreme Court in numerous rulings. INEC cannot cancel our meetings. It is the party’s prerogative to decide such matters. INEC has no authority to do so. We are planning to hold our meeting as scheduled, if anything changes we will brief you.
We did not state that the meeting is for election of officials, conduct of primaries, or nomination of candidates for elective positions.
Yet, the Acting Secretary of INEC, Halilu Aminu, decided to unilaterally assign a purpose to our meeting’ he said.
Mr Ologunagba also listed matters that would be addressed during the 100th NEC meeting to include preparations for the upcoming national convention, including reports from the Zoning and Convention Committees established during the 99th NEC meeting.
‘At the 99th NEC meeting, it was unanimously agreed to schedule the next meeting for the 30th of June.
The constitution of the Zoning Committee and the Convention Committee was approved. Consultations with various organs of the party and stakeholders are ongoing’ he said.
Recall that Sunday Udeh-Okoye and former Senator Samuel Anyanwu had laid claim to National Secretary position and in an effort to resolve the dispute, the party had appointed Setonji Koshoedo as Acting National Secretary.
A fact-finding committee headed by Governor Kefas Agbu of Taraba State however noted that INEC only recognizes Anyanwu as substantive National Secretary.
While the Acting National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Umar Damagum notified INEC on May 30, that 100th NEC meeting of PDP will hold on June 30, the electoral body however, rejected the notice, citing its rule that such a letter must be jointly signed by the National Chairman and the National Secretary.
INEC had consequently urged the PDP to comply accordingly.
Mr Ologunagba however asserted on Sunday that INEC has limited role to play in respect of the statutory meetings of the NWC and NEC, except when the meeting involves election of party officials, merger talks, or presentation of new candidates for elections.
‘Now, whoever signs the letter is an interrupter of the party.
If the court does not have jurisdiction over what happened with the internal affairs of the party, I wonder why INEC will have jurisdiction over it.
Because that is not the job of INEC. If we designate somebody to be the person to sign the letter, so be it.
And that’s why it’s an internal affair of the party. Why the desperation to kill political parties? All they want is a one-party state, to stifle opposition which is just, like I have said earlier, a wishful thinking, it is a hallucination.
And INEC should know that this is a hallucination. This country will not go into a one-party state and nobody, no matter how powerful, whether you’re a president or you’re a combination of presidents, it will not work’ he added.
The party, he noted, did not announce plans to hold meeting during which party officials would be elected, primaries would be held or party officials would engage in merger talks.
He wondered where Alhaji Aminu got such an idea while accusing him of inventing a false purpose to serve vested interests-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
