APC group calls for boycott of party convention, threatens legal action

The scheduled February 26 date for the national convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has faced opposition from stakeholders as a group, the APC Youth Development and Progressive Forum has called for a boycott.

This was contained in a statement issued on Monday by the group’s Secretary-General, Hon. Tobias Ogbeh, in Abuja.

In calling for this boycott, the group also “put the ruining cabal in the APC on notice“ that it would follow up with a legal challenge to invalidate whatever outcome procured from the convention.

Ogbeh said the party was heading for implosion due to an alleged hijack by some northern governors.

The group decried what it said was the tyrannical disposition of some northern governors who impose their mandates on party members.

“As you are aware, like any other political party in this country, the APC is presently weathering its internal issues, which have been made worse by certain northern governors that have declared themselves emperors and absolute rulers that dictate what happens in the party.

“The most recent dictatorial act from these overbearing governors is their imposition of a date for the National Convention of the APC, which they are touting to hold on February 26, 2022.

“It is a date they are tenuously holding onto even when it has been conclusively established that it flies in the face of logic, equity, and fair play. This is because these self-seeking elements have hijacked the party and are now insisting that a convention that is not in the interest of the party must take place on their appointed date.”

The statement further clarified that the February 26 date was based on the self-interest of these select few when the party is not ready to organize such a gathering at this point.

“All reports available to stakeholders – political, strategic, logistics and security reports – now point to the fact that no convention can take place on February 26, 2022.

“Those that are peddling this phantom date have other plans as they are certainly not interested in the success of the convention they claim would be taking place on that date.

“In whose interest are the promoters of the February convention deriving their authority or inspiration knowing fully well that the party is not ripe now?

“Should the National Convention go ahead on February 26 as these people are planning, it would create a legal conundrum that could prove catastrophic for the nation.

“We do not want to contemplate the kind of constitutional crisis that would arise if the ruling party is thrown out of the 2023 General Elections based on its candidates being the end product of a contested convention. Nigeria, as we know it would be disrupted.

“The gang of northern governors that are behind this twisted hijack of the APC need to be taught a lesson that they cannot package dictatorship in democratic garb and expect it to sell among right-thinking Nigerians.

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“If they get away with this behaviour within the APC it is a matter of time because they give national spread to their irresponsible attitude and the entire country would then be at their mercy. This must not be allowed to happen.

“In calling for this boycott, we hereby put the ruining cabal in the APC on notice that we will follow up with a legal challenge to invalidate whatever criminal outcome they procure from the event, which has already failed even before it held.”

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