Gombe state All Progressives Congress (APC) group, Dalachi Advocacy, has faulted the one year tenure extension for the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and state executives, saying the action is against the constitution. Leader of the group, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu, and former gubernatorial aspirant of the party in 2015, stated this while speaking with journalists in Gombe yesterday, explaining that decision was taken after the meeting with the members of the party in all the 11 local government areas of the state on the issue.
He said, after the meeting with all the party members, including local government party executives in the state, the leaders resolved to officially condemn the extension of the tenure of the party’s National Chairman and his executives by one year as against Nigeria’s constitution. “Section 223 of the 1999 constitution as amended provides for periodical election on a democratic basis for principal officers and members of the executive committee of political parties.
“According to the constitution, election of the officers or members of the executive committee of a political party will be deemed to be periodical if done at regular intervals, not exceeding four years. “Article 17 of the party’s constitution also provides for four-year tenure for its national and state executives, which is renewable for another four years,” Aliyu said. “We have considered the issue of extension of tenure and we are of the firm belief that the decision is a breach of the constitution of our party and of the country. We are against the elongation of tenure.
We shall continue to make our decision known to the party and to the president. “In extending the tenure, the APC National Executive Committee had relied on Article 13.3 (ii) of its constitution which states that ‘the NEC can discharge the functions of the convention in a period of emergency,’” adding that Article 13.3 (ii) is, however, not limitless and open-ended.
