…Party discredits letter

…Open letter to Tinubu not from us — Publicity Secretary

…Says people are eager to serve

By Moses Adeniyi, Adewunmi Adebisi, & Ridwan Adekunle

Situation may not be in best times for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as issues regarding grievances over the composition of its Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) appears to have generated discontentment which on Thursday was further clustered with a leaked letter allegedly written by  Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee (NWC) to the Party’s Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

The letter written allegedly by Adamu on behalf of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, accusing Tinubu of  breach of agreement on the Organogram of the PCC, has not ceased from generating controversy, as the Party has officially distanced the NWC from the letter.

Recall that resentment over the 422-member APC PCC raised clamour from different quarters including Support Groups in the Party.

In the letter leaked in the early hours of Thursday, Adamu accused Tinubu of breaching the agreement he had with the NWC with regard to the composition of the PCC.

He alleged in the letter that the purported list of appointees released by the PCC on 23rd September 2022 defied purposes of the arrangements towards the adoption of the Organogram of the PCC, and its principal officials as agreed upon.

According to the letter, such disposition would grant cheap victory to the opposition  “as ‘Manna from Heaven’ whose only desire when all else fails, is to see the introduction of rancour, division and disinclination in the leadership of our Great Party.”

Recall that composition of the campaign council had been serially delayed as the NWC was said to have set up a three-member committee to interface with Tinubu’s team.

Members of the committee include the National Organising Secretary, the National Legal Adviser and Deputy Women Leader which was set up to harmonise the council membership list with Tinubu’s team.

The recommendations of the NWC team was reported to have Senator Adamu as Deputy Chairman of the Council; the APC Deputy National Chairman (North), Senator Abubakar Kyari as Deputy Regional Coordinating Chairman (North) and his counterpart in the South, Hon. Emma Eneukwu as Deputy Regional Coordinating Chairman (South).

The demand also includes having APC National Secretary, Sen. Iyiola Omisore as Vice Chairman (Party Affairs); the National Organizing Secretary, Alhaji Sulaiman Argungu as Deputy Director-General (Organizing); the APC National Vice Chairman (South South), Hon. Victor Giadom as Deputy Zonal Campaign Coordinator, South-South and the APC National Vice Chairman (South West) as Deputy Zonal Campaign Coordinator of the zone.

Others are APC National Vice Chairman (South East) as Deputy Zonal Campaign Coordinator; APC National Vice Chairman (North Central) as Deputy Zonal Campaign Coordinator; APC National Vice Chairman (North East) as Deputy Zonal Campaign Coordinator and APC National Vice Chairman (North West) as Deputy Zonal Campaign Coordinator of the zone.

The NWC team was said to have also recommended the creation of more directorates like the Directorate of Media Relations to be headed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary; Directorate of Compliance to be headed by the National Legal Adviser; Directorate of Organizing, Contact and Mobilisation to be headed by the National Organizing Secretary.

However, the leaked letter alleged Tinubu’s side was running a “solo project,” against a collaborative effort required to win election.

The letter reads, “On behalf of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), I present my compliments to Your Excellency, and have the honour to convey to you, in truth and respect, the Committee’s opinion and position, regarding the above-mentioned subject matter, with a view to having a clear understanding about the respective roles and responsibilities of the principal organs of the Party charged with the duties of conducting the campaigns in the forth-coming general elections.

“This correspondence has become necessary in view of developments that took place over the last few days around the purported appointments into the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) that was announced precipitately by officials of the Council, without making recourse to the NWC for approval.

“All along, the NWC had been disposed towards the campaign in a cooperative spirit that is driven by the overall interest of the Party and the singular desire of victory for our candidates, in the persons of your esteemed self and your running mate.

“It is against this background that the NWC received with astonishment and regret, the press release by the PCC on 23rd September 2022, in which a purported list of appointees was announced, which effectively served as the approved roster of participants in the Party’s Presidential Campaign Council.

“The purported list not only came as a complete surprise to the NWC and the Party’s leadership, but also contravened the principles and purposes of the arrangements that you and I had led towards the adoption of the Organogram of the PCC, and its principal officials.

“Perhaps it has become necessary owing to the passage of time, that I should draw Your Excellency’s attention to the agreements that we reached in principle around the final adoption of the PCC list, based on the understanding that it was a work in progress, until such a time that the Joint NWC/PCC Committee that was established to formalise the structure and populate the list, submits its report.

“Your Excellency will no doubt recall our meetings in my office and also at the NWC Conference Room at the Party’s National Secretariat, on Wednesday, 7th September 2022, during which we discussed the details of the Organogram of the PCC and its composition, as a collaborative project between the two entities.

“Our recollection of those meetings clearly leaves us in no doubt that a breach of agreement has occurred, and that a return to the principles of cooperation and respect for each other is required.

“In Your Excellency’s own words, which I take the liberty to quote here, which I also hold dearly, you stated that ‘there is a burden on everyone’s shoulders towards delivering the elections to the Party and the candidate.’ This has been the view of the NWC and myself all along since Your Excellency’s emergence as our Great Party’s Flagbearer.

“The NWC is striving under trying circumstances to keep faith with this vision, and to take our Party and candidates to victory, not only in the Presidential elections but in all others across the elective strata of offices.

“May I, therefore, point out to Your Excellency, that winning election is a cooperative as well as a collaborative effort, that is done in a transparent and disinterested manner by all parties concerned, by respecting established boundaries and acknowledging the contributions of everyone.

“The NWC believes that any sign of disarray in the Party’s ranks will undermine the spirit and ethos of the campaign and give the undue alarm to faithful members and followers of the Party across the country.

“At the same, such a development would undoubtedly come as ‘Manna from Heaven’ for the opposition parties, whose only desire when all else fails, is to see the introduction of rancour, division and disinclination in the leadership of our Great Party.

“I am sure Your Excellency will agree with me that this is an eventuality that we must do all in our power to prevent from happening.

“You will also agree that we owe it a duty as leaders to provide guidance by example to the rest of the Party including the PCC, to abide by agreements and adhere strictly to the work ethos that has been adopted by all of us.

“It is only by doing so that we will establish the premise for victory and gain the trust and confidence of our dear countrymen and women.

“Without further admonishment or complaints, I wish hereby to call upon Your Excellency to restrain the PCC from undertaking solo projects of this nature and agree to work with all stakeholders towards taking our Party to victory.

“I shall not find it necessary to reiterate the importance of the Party in the overall scheme of things in these campaigns, and the singular position of the NWC in driving the process towards our securing of victory in the polls.

“It suffices for me to convey the general and overwhelming sentiment of the NWC with regards to the ill-timed and unfortunate release of the PCC list, which confounded rather than pleased the members and whose withdrawal will assure the NWC of Your Excellency’s respect and disposition towards the Party, as well as the magnanimous spirit of cooperation towards achieving victory together with the NWC.

“Please accept, Your Excellency, my own personal regard and consideration, as well as the assurances of the of NWCs’ warm and sincere felicitations.”

We are just as surprised as everyone, open letter to Tinubu not from us — Publicity Secretary

Meanwhile, the Party in a reaction trailing the development distanced the NWC from the letter, saying they were just as surprised as every other person who saw the letter.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Felix Morka, while featuring in an interview on Channels Television Flagship Programme  “Politics Today” monitored by Nigerian NewsDirect, said “the letter is not of the party.”

“It was not forwarded or shared or even written by the party. And we’re not sure what the source for that letter really is. Now, when you see the letter, on the face of the letter, the letter is really unfiled and says on its face, that is a draft.

“So, it’s not a finished matter. It’s not one that was authenticated by the signature of the purported author which was supposed to be the national chairman of our party.

“So, we were just as confused as everyone else when this letter made into circulation, which prompted into statement released by the party in the early afternoon today, basically, disclaiming the letter.”

He also said that the reason behind the postponement of the inauguration of their campaign council was because they were working on how to  accommodate those who want to serve on the PCC.

“Now, as for the presidential campaign council of the APC, we have a good problem, which is that, many of our members want to serve on the campaign council. The problem we have is that people are eager to serve.

“We are quite happy with where we have, which is that our members, our leaders, and people of goodwill in the party are eager and desirous to participate in the presidential campaign of the party.”

Reacting to the question of how the party will be able to connect and unite the NWC, the presidential candidate and his team with the party, Mr Morka said, “We have a party, and that’s the All Progressives Congress. The presidential campaign is of the party.

“The party is the party and it’s the vehicle on which our presidential candidate is running. Now naturally, once the candidate emerges in any political party, the candidate is the flag bearer of the party.

“A lot of activities, a lot of the planning and then coordination of activities for the campaign revolve between the candidate and the party.

“So, naturally, the candidate becomes an emerging system of influence and it’s natural; that is expected, and it’s normal between the progressives. So, what we’re seeing is real.”

Going further, he said that the party was yet to pick a day for the inauguration of the campaign council.

“We don’t have a date yet for the inauguration of the campaign council  as you know.

“I think it was yesterday or the day before. There was the release out of the council of the postponing of that inauguration. That’s an operation that will be done. Like I said, the challenge here is all of those who can be accommodated on the council are actually accommodated,” he said.

Regardless of the resentment over the composition of the PCC, the APC had on Wednesday flagged-off its campaign rally for Tinubu, and his Vice, Kashim Shettima, at the Unity Fountain in Abuja.

Majority of Tinubu Support Organisations thronged the venue in their numbers with support placards and banners.

It could be recalled that the PCC had postponed the commencement of its campaigns earlier scheduled for Wednesday.

This was disclosed by the Director-General of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council and Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau, in a statement on Tuesday.