Obaseki’s APC Faction Writes INEC, Challenges Oshiomhole over Secretariat

A faction of the All Progressives Congress, APC, loyal to Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying that the party’s National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole lacks the power to change the address of the party in the state ahead of the governorship primary.

Oshiomhole, in a letter to the electoral body on the May 29, 2020, had notified the commission that the party had purportedly changed its address in Edo State to a new secretariat.

However, the factional Chairman of the party loyal to Obaseki, Mr. Anselem Ojezua, in a letter dated 9th June, 2020, titled: “Re: Notification of Change of Address, Violation of Relevant Constitution of the party and an attempt to Circumvent Subsisting Court Order”, said Oshiomhole lacked the power to change the address of the party in the state.

The letter was copied to Oshiomhole, the Commissioner of Police Edo State, Director of DSS, Edo State, the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Edo State.

Ojezua cited Article 8 of the party’s constitution, which stipulates that: “The registered office of the party shall be located in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria, while other offices in the state capitals, local government area headquarters, wards and other places shall be determined by the appropriate executive committee and approved by the National Executive Committee.”

Ojezua stated: “Permit me to remind you of the repeated admonition by the superior court of records in this country that political parties must imbibe the culture of obeying or acting in conformity with the provisions of their constitution.

“Surely, the State Executive Committee is the appropriate executive committee contemplated by the said provision and not the person or office of the national chairman of the party.

“This, by the clear provision of our constitution, the national chairman of our party not being a sole administrator thereof, has absolutely no role to play on the issue of the location of the state secretariat in Edo State.

“The action of the national chairman is a ploy to avoid compliance with the consequential effects of the order of the Benin High Court in Suit No. B/277/0S/19: Anselm Ojezua & Others v. Col. lmuse & Ors which granted an injunctive order preserving my status as the state chairman of Edo State chapter of our party.”

Ojezua noted that High Court and the Court of Appeal in Benin have refused the applications by the defendants to set aside the preservative order of injunction which is and was still subsisting in his favour.

He told INEC that members of Edo State Executive Committee of the party, led by him, were duly elected at the last congress held by the party in 2018, noting that INEC has the records of those elected at the congress.

Reacting to the letter, INEC’s Director in charge of Voter Education and Information, Mr. Festus Okoye said the commission does not deal with state chapters of political parties.

He said: “In all issues, we deal with the national chairman and national secretaries of political parties.

“This is the position of the commission in line with session 220 of the 1999 Constitution as amended. During the registration of political parties, it is the highest elected officials of the parties that we deal with in all our correspondences with any political party.

”Moreover, the matter on the mode of the Edo State APC governorship primary is in the court and as a policy, INEC will not dabble into any issue before the court. That is prejudice. We can only obey court orders.”

Party Factions Bicker over Alleged Contempt of Court

Ojezua also yesterday said the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu; Chairman of the faction of Edo State APC loyal to Oshiomhole, Col. David Imuse (rtd) and Mr. Chris Azebamwen risked arrest and imprisonment for contempt of court over violation of court orders.

He said in a statement that the three officials had disregarded a court order recognising him as the state chairman of APC.

The three APC chieftains were sued by Ojezua; Deputy Chairman, APC Edo State, Kenneth Asekhomhe and State Organising Secretary, APC, Edo State, for disobeying the interim injunction directing that parties to maintain status quo as 10/11/2019, on the chairmanship of the APC, Edo State chapter, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice praying for interlocutory injunction.

Ojezua noted that in furtherance of this, in a form 49, the three personalities were served with papers to “take notice that the claimants/applicants will on the 18th of June, 2020 at the hour of 9 o’clock in the forenoon apply to this court for an order for your committal to prison for having disobeyed the order of the High Court of Justice, Benin City, Edo State presided over by Hon. Justice V. O. A. Oviawe.”

He stated that going by the documents Issa-Onilu, Imuse and Azebamwen, breached the court order by parading Imuse as the state chairman of the APC against the orders of the court.

But the Ize-Iyamu Campaign Organisation has dismissed the claim by Ojezua on the chairmanship tussle.

A statement by the Director of Communication and Media, Mr. John Mayaki, said there was no such order by the court.

“How can a case that was never filed, never heard and without participation by lawyers be said to have been ruled on? The simple way to dismiss this falsehood is to ask those peddling the news to provide basic details such as case file number, legal representatives, and Presiding judge,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Edo State chapter of APC loyal to Obaseki has accused Oshiomhole of a deliberate attempt to hand over the state to the opposition by continuously causing crisis in the party.

Publicity Secretary of the faction, Mr. Joseph Osagiede, who spoke to journalists in Benin City, called on the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) and the presidency to rein in Oshiomhole and stop him from gifting Edo to the opposition, like he did in Zamfara, Rivers and Bayelsa, among other states.

Osagiede, who described Obaseki as the best man for the job on account of his massive infrastructural and developmental strides in the state, said the governor had performed well and would be re-elected.