A new twist in the All Progressive Congress crisis that has rocked Taraba State and caused the Supreme Court to annul the party's governorship primary occurred last night when 38 out of the total members of the State Executive Committee allegedly removed the chairman, Ibrahim El-Suldi, from office by passing a vote of no confidence in him.
38 disgruntled members of the Executive Committee issued a statement in which they claimed that Article 21(d)(vi) of the APC Constitution gave them the authority to remove the chairman.
They said, “Our grounds and justification for passing a vote of no confidence in El-Suldi, and to consequently remove him from office as Taraba State APC Chairman relates to his failure to discharge his responsibilities, as well as his neglect and dereliction of duty and misconduct.
“The chairman neglected his duties and lawful directives of the party. Contrary to the orders of the National Secretariat that the indirect mode of primary election should be adopted, the state chairman communicated to the Independent National Electoral Commission that the party chose a direct mode of the primary election.
“This has caused issues within the party, resulting in numerous litigations. El-Suldi has consistently absented from his office in the state, relocated and set up a permanent base in Abuja, where he is abdicating his office by his failure, refusal, or neglect to discharge the duties and functions of his office. This contravenes Article 21 (a)(iii) of the APC Constitution.
“El-Sudi has failed, refused or neglected to call for SEC meetings without any justification. Officials of the party have been sidelined.”
The excos said that during this critical election time, when the party should be strategizing and planning on how to win the next elections, the importance of SEC meetings cannot be overstated, but “El-Sudi by his conduct has undermined our collective efforts towards winning the forthcoming elections.”
Citing the factionalization of the party and the above-alleged violations, the SEC said in the statement that they had used the power given to them by Article 21(d)(vi) of the APC Constitution to remove El-Sudi as the APC Chairman for Taraba State.
Aaron Artimas, the Publicity Secretary for the party in the state, said that the alleged removal was done by some desperate party members who thought they wouldn’t get anywhere in the rescheduled governor’s primary, which was set for February 10.
“I am a member of the State Executive Committee, but I didn’t sign the purported removal. What they did was to bring in some members of the SEC loyal to David Kente to carry out the shameful act,” he said.