The Kogi State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has refuted the news making the rounds that the deputy governor, Elder Simon Achuba has been suspended from the party.
In a statement issued and signed by the State Chairman of the party, Alhaji Shaibu Osune and the State Secretary of the party, Mr. Tom Adejoh which was made available to journalists in Lokoja, the party chairman described the action of the Abdullahi Bello-led Exco as “an unfortunate error by partisan factional party members who have do not possess comprehensive knowledge of the party’s constitution.”
Osune further asserts that the Abdullahi-led faction are impostors working for the Governor and their suspension of the Deputy Governor is an exercise in futility and does not hold water because the faction do not have the authority to suspend the a party member in the first place.
The Osune-led EXCOs explained that according to the constitution of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the suspension of a member as highly placed as Governor or Deputy Governor – who are National Executive Council (NEC) Members of the APC – is initiated from the Ward level up to the Local Government and State levels. It goes as far as the National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja.
By implication, only the NEC in Abuja has the powers to suspend the Deputy Governor; by virtue of his position and status in the party.
They further emphasized that when it comes to making important decisions that will be binding on all party members in the state, the faction led by Abdullahi Bello does not have such authority as it has not been determined yet as to which camp is the genuine party EXCOs. The case to determine that fact is still in court.
As far as the Osune-led EXCOs are concerned, the Deputy Governor is still very much a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
