N’West APC Chair, Lukman, dares Adamu, NWC to expel him

The National Vice Chairman, North-West of All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, has dared the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, the National Legal Adviser of the party, Ahmad Usman El-Marzuq, and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to carry out their threat of expelling him.

Lukman, while responding to the threat of expulsion issued on him by El-Marzuq after he dragged Adamu and National Secretary of the APC, Iyiola Omisore to court for failing to convene relevant committee meetings, said El-Marzuq erred in law with the recommendation of his expulsion which was contained in a “legal opinion sent to Adamu on Monday.

In a statement on Tuesday, Lukman alleged that El-Marzuq was deliberately trying to subvert the party’s constitution, as the purported legal opinion would be part of the agenda of NWC meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

In the letter addressed to Adamu and copied to President Muhammadu Buhari, President-elect, Bola Tinubu, the Progressive Governors Forum through its chairman and Kebbi State Governor, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, and members of the APC NWC, Lukman said it is only the National Executive Committee (NEC) that can recommend sanctions on any member going by the party’s constitution.

According to Lukman, nobody, no matter how highly placed in the leadership of the party should be allowed to destroy the APC by blocking its relevant organs, notably the National Advisory Council (NAC), National Caucus, and NEC from holding statutory meetings as required by the Party’s Constitution.

Part of Lukman’s letter reads:

“It is my hope that the memo will be presented to the meeting of National Working Committee NWC, scheduled for Wednesday, May 3, 2023.

Read Also:Again, Salihu Lukman decries Adamu’s handling of APC, warns against zoning of Senate president to North

“In that case, the substantive issue will be the consideration of recommendation for disciplinary measure against me, which may require invoking Article 21.5 of the APC Constitution.

“I want to unequivocally state that Article 21.3(i) of the APC Constitution explicitly mandates only the Executive Committee of the Party as the organ assigned the responsibility for disciplinary action as follows:

“A complaint by any member of the party against a public office holder, elected or appointed, or another member or against a party organ or officer of the party shall be submitted to the executive committee of that party at all levels concerned which shall not later than seven (7) days of the receipt of the complaint, appoint a fact- finding or disciplinary committee to examine the matter.’

“With this provision, my expectation will be for the NWC to consider the memo and if adopted, refer the recommendations for onward transmission to the National Executive Committee NEC, in which case the NWC will then be acting as the complainant.

“There is nowhere in the APC constitution where the NWC is given the power to discipline any member of the party,” Lukman noted.

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