Buhari accused of supporting "illegality" as APC National working committee boycott NEC meeting

The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken another turn as President Buhari has been accused of supporting “illegality” by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national working committee (NWC).

LIB reported yesterday that factional Acting Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Victor Giadom got President Buhari’s backing to preside over the party’s virtual National Executive Council (NEC) meeting today June 25. President Buhari who spoke through his spokesperson Garba Shehu on Wednesday, June 24, said he will attend the NEC meeting because “the law is on the side of Victor Giadom as Acting National Chairman.”

Reacting to this, Hillard Eta, vice-chairman of the APC (south-south) and Waziri Bulama, acting national secretary said an emergency NWC meeting was held after Buhari declared support for Giadom.

In a statement released after the 4 hours meeting, the NWC members stated that they won’t be “embracing illegalities and turning a blind eye to the infractions on the constitution of the party”.

They added that said they would not attend the NEC meeting as they believe that President Buhari was ”offered the wrong advice or blackmailed into lending his weighty office to the illegality of the National Executive Committee meeting convened by Giadom.”

The statement partly read;

“We wish to unequivocally state that members of the National Working Committee (NWC) believe that the President was offered wrong advice or blackmailed into lending his weighty office to the illegality of the National Executive Committee meeting purportedly convened by one Victor Giadom on 25th June, 2020.

“We hereby respectfully implore Mr. President to kindly avail himself with facts of the matter regarding the impasse presently experienced by the party so as to guide him in his assessment of the matter because we are sure that the President, if properly advised, would come to the conclusion that the meeting convened by Chief Victor Giadom bothers on illegality and criminality.

“The National Working Committee (NWC) regrets to turn down the invitation to the illegal and unconstitutional National Executive Committee (NEC) convened by Chief Victor Giadom. We believe that attending such a meeting will amount to embracing illegalities and turning a blind eye to the infractions on the Constitution of our great Party.”