Benue APC members reject NWC 7-day dispute resolution directive

From Cyril Mbah,  Abuja.

Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State have rejected the seven-day  directive from the ruling party’s National Working Committee (NWC) within which to withdraw all cases arising from  the last governorship election in the state and pending in various courts.

The working committee had directed that ever pending case should be withdrawn and that members must use the internal dispute resolution mechanism available in the party in settling grievances.

However, the objecting Benue members stated that seven days cannot be sufficient for consultations with supporters and the conclusion of necessary arrangements to pull the litigations out of courts and suggested that one month grace should be granted aggrieved members.

An aide of a former governor, who spoke to reporters on conditions of anonymity, canvassed for more time and stated that the leadership of the party should show complete neutrality before members can have confidence in the ability of the party machinery to adjudicate in pending disputes.

Recall that at its 146th meeting held on March 20th, 2024, the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress deliberated and resolved that all ongoing cases filed in the name of the Party or associated with matters concerning the Party and involving Party members especially in Benue State must be discontinued and withdrawn from the courts within the next 7 days.

The NWC stated that failure to comply with the resolution will result in disciplinary action being taken against any member responsible for such suits, including immediate suspension and ultimately expulsion from the party.

It also said that it is crucial that all members of the APC in Benue State Chapter adhere to this directive promptly.

The party said the “unity and integrity of our Party must be upheld, and resolving legal matters internally is paramount to maintaining the cohesion and focus of the APC,” according to a statement signed by Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru,

National Secretary on behalf of the

All Progressives Congress (APC).

Meanwhile, the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) 2023 Senatorial Candidate for Kaduna Zone-One, Alhaji Abdullahi Ahmad Wakili (Wakilin Jama’a) has criticized the level of underdevelopment in Kaduna State and called o. The state administration to wake up from its slumber.

In a statement titled “Kaduna State APC-led administration. From high speed to a standstill, Alhaji Ahmad said: “As a stakeholder and Kaduna Zone-One Senatorial Candidate during the 2023 general election, under the platform of People Redemption Party (PRP), I have carefully observed the unfolding events in our dear state, under the APC-led administration.

“The state government is evidently lacking in idea, direction and coordination, hence, the main reason why the administration is presently experiencing serious setback in execution of socio-economic/human capital developmental projects.

“It is high time now for the Kaduna state APC-led administration to address the good people of the state and give reasons behind the aforesaid unpleasant situation. The administration also need to pay quick attention to and prioritize security, welfare and progress of Kaduna citizens.

“This would, in no doubt, go a long way in helping the administration restore its eroded confidence back before the eyes of Kaduna citizenry.

“It is demoralizing now that, the only consistently recorded credit of the state APC-led administration, in its ten month in office so far, is payment of monthly salary to civil servants, though, in most cases it is without implementation of promotion and annual increment. This situation raises so much questions about the government’s priorities and its commitment to good governance.

“I am deeply concerned about the current displeasing situation in Kaduna state under the APC-led administration of a glaring light of diminishing progress and prospect. I feel duty bound therefore, on behalf of the silent majority, to call on the administration to publish its 10-months score-card, hence, explain reasons for the decimal performance, particularly in the areas of security and infrastructural development, and also state its position on the status of the littered inherited abandoned projects.

“The administration is surrounded by political opportunists, with some appointed in various sensitive political offices, whom by all indication, many of them are not working towards the success of the administration, but instead, are silently advancing their personal political ambition comes 2027. The appointees are presently creating political camps/groups within the APC, for their vested interest and to the detriment of APC-administration.

“It is without doubt now that, the present administration is cruising at a high speed, going towards having a repeating of the former Governor Muktar Ramalan Yero’s administration fate, if the APC Kaduna chapter did not act.

“Other critical issues worth mentioning here are that of the present status of the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and that of the security of lives and properties. The state IGR is declining, largely due to alleged leakages in the system and lack of commitment, resulting from laxity in the state Tax and Revenue administration.

“On the other hand, the present insecurity challenges that has aggressively resurfaced, with devastating instances such as the Kuriga School abduction, Kajuru attacks and kidnappings are attributed to the state existing weak governance, which has resulted in poor monitoring and coordination of the state security system. The relative peace, enjoyed by Kadunans during the past administrations is now deteriorating by the day.

“Criticism and opposition party politics are major tools of correcting leaders’ anomalies in a democratic system of governance. The APC administration has undoubtedly created good opportunity for the leading opposition party in the state, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to maximally leverage on and possibly bounce back.

“Regrettably, Kaduna state chapters of the PDP is still in the state of disarray, still being hunted by its dark past. This has made the PDP to have failed to occupy the wide opposition space created by the present administration in Kaduna State.

“Finally, it is overdue for the opposition parties in Kaduna state to join hands in discharging their constitutional responsibility of righting the wrong in moving Kaduna state forward. Similarly, opposition parties in Kaduna state are duty bound to, ethically and patriotically, team up in restoring Kaduna’s hope and above it all, in rescuing the state from the glaring imminent destruction it is presently facing in the hands of this present administration of APC,” he concluded.