Twist As Leaked Memo Reveals APC Legal Adviser Wants National Vice Chairman Expelled From Party

The leadership crisis affecting the All Progressives Congress, APC, has taken a new twist as the party’s National Legal Adviser, Ahmad El-Marzuq, has recommended the expulsion of Salihu Lukman, the National Vice Chairman, North, from the party.

His recommendation was predicated on the suit Lukman instituted in the past week against the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, and the National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore, for their failures to call for the national executive committee meeting of the party.

A leaked memo recommending the expulsion was sent to Adamu for action.

El-Marzuq, in his legal advice said, Lukman be reprimanded by way of expulsion for failing to follow internal conflict resolution mechanism before heading to the Court.

According to him, “This is because a political party is a voluntary organisation or association.

“Persons join political parties of their own choice; therefore, where there is any internal disagreement, it must be resolved by a majority decision of the members.

“That being so, any dispute over its internal affairs is not justiceable and no court has jurisdiction to entertain a claim on such dispute,” he stated.

He added that, “However, a cursory look at Article 25.2 (i) of the Party’s Constitution would reveal that it is not mandatory to convene a meeting of the National Executive Committee every quarter as postulated by the plaintiff, rather it is at the discretion of the National Working Committee or at the request in writing by one-third of the members of the national executive committee.

“It is clear that the party did not breach any provision of its constitution by not calling for a meeting of NEC every quarter for the purpose of presenting activities of the party to the members of NEC as alluded to by the plaintiff and thus his suit ought to be dismissed by the court for lacking in merit,” he explained.

Justifying his recommendation, he added that, “By resorting to a court action against the party, it is my recommendation that disciplinary measures, in accordance with the party’s constitution, should be meted out against the plaintiff particularly Article 21.5 (v) which states thus: ‘Any member who files an action in court of law against the party or any of its officers on any matter or matters relating to the discharge of duties of the party, without first exhausting the avenues for redress provided for in this constitution, shall automatically stand expelled from the party on filing such action and no appeal against expulsion as stipulated in this clause shall be entertained until the withdrawal of the action from court by the member’.”

But in his reaction, Lukman, in a letter to Adamu said the NWC lacks the power to discipline erring members.

“There is nowhere in the APC Constitution where the NWC is given the power to discipline any member of the party,” he said.

He added that, “I have already forwarded the memo to my legal team for further legal action.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the suit in question, which is being alleged to constitute anti-party activity will have to go ahead, especially to correct the erroneous interpretation of the Constitution by the National Legal Adviser to the effect that ‘it is not mandatory to convene a meeting of the National Executive Committee every quarter for the purpose of presenting activities of the Party to the members of NEC’.

“Coming from the national legal adviser whose legal qualification is not in doubt smacks of a deliberate attempt to manipulate the NWC into subverting the Party’s constitution.

“Let me say it very clearly that I will proceed with the legal action I instituted to restore Constitutional order in APC up to the supreme court.

“It is pathetic that the national legal adviser, rather than providing an unbiased legal opinion to guide deliberations of organs of the party, would descend so low as to imagine that threats of disciplinary action is what is required at this point,” he added.