Following the purported dissolution of the African Democratic Congress’ Abia elected state executive and subsequent inauguration of an interim state executive by the party’s National Chairman, Chief Ralphs Nwosu, Obinna Norman, the party’s elected chairman in Abia, says the action cannot stand.
By a special resolution dated August 1, 2022, the ADC’s National Working Committee dissolved the Abia State Executives and established an 11-member interim executive body for the state.
The party accused the Abia State exco of “recent anti-party activities and deliberate effort of some Abia State Executives to undermine our candidates for the general election, coupled with various allegations of grievous misconduct,” and constituted interim executives for the state.
However, the dissolved state exco chairman, Norman, says the congress elected them on May 12, 2022, for four years tenure ending on May 12, 2026 “and cannot just after three months say you are inaugurating another exco.”
Norman said the inauguration of an interim exco “was a jamboree, a monster that the National Chairman tried to create for whatever reason best known to him. (The) ADC has a constituted exco and the National Chairman has no constitutional right, powers to dissolve. It is bad for him to ridicule a party that others saw as a threat few months ago.
“As the ADC state chairman, I am a member of NEC and only answerable to the NWC and cannot begin to blame the NWC over what they don’t know about. The National Chairman is the overall leader of the party but cannot take a decision in isolation of the NWC, but according to laid down rules,” he said.
Accordingly he said he had petitioned the NWC of the party , which said it was not aware, adding “He acted alone. The ADC constitution is straight and says for a state exco to be dissolved, there must be periodic complaints from the zonal or the State Working Committee, and the NWC and the SWC, which I am the chairman, did not forward any complaints of misconduct or anti-party activity to the National chairman.
“The constitution also stipulates that after submitting the complaints, we shall be invited for fair hearing. That didn’t happen. As I speak to you, we have not seen any letter and are yet to be served. If some members are found wanting and you didn’t give them chance of fair hearing, why did you have to punish the entire exco constituting of the 17 LGA chairmen and the state exco? Yet you picked up some LGA chairman to become your interim chairman.
“This simply means there was no allegation and no case and nobody was found guilty. If there is any problem, I am yet to be told. I found out that the said letter was not to the knowledge of the NWC and national exco. The ADC is not a one-man party, but is composed of responsible men and women that are not thugs.
INEC, Norman said, still recognises the state elected exco, stating that the action of the national chairman will not stand and expressed his belief that the NWC will in due course do the right thing, noting “this illegality will not stand. I swore to defend the constitution of the ADC and I am here to stop invaders. I will to the letter.”