The NEC doesn’t have the power to extend the tenure or remove the-ADC Chairman

The State Chairmen of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, on Saturday, declared the suspension of its presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, null and void.

Recall that the ADC had on Friday, suspended Kachikwu, accusing him of making a false, misguided and defamatory video, among other infractions.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Chairman, ADC Chairmen Forum, Kingsley Ogga, said the tenure of the National Working Committee, NWC, had since expired on the 28th of August 2022, hence, ‘the illegality of the NWC to suspend Kachikwu.’

Ogga stated that the National Executive Council, NEC, will on Monday (5 September), have a meeting with INEC to inaugurate a caretaker committee that will host another convention to extend the tenure of the NWC and the ADC Chairman, Chief Ralph Okey Nwosu or elect completely new leadership.

He said, “The NEC doesn’t have the power to extend the tenure or remove the NWC, it can only be done through a national convention. They have no right to currently take the action they are taking. Have you ever seen where a dead man is an MC in his own occasion? They are dead people, they are gone, and their tenure has elapsed.

“In the history of Nigeria, we have never seen a political party that suspends its presidential candidate, it’s a mystery. They don’t have the legal right to suspend him. The suspension is null and void.”

In a letter addressed to the INEC Chairman, dated 29th August 2022 and signed by the Chairman, ADC Chairmen Forum, Kingsley Ogga, and Secretary ADC Chairmen Forum, Kenneth Odion, the State Chairmen said: “The undersigned African Democratic Congress(ADC) State Chairmen are by this medium bringing to your notice that the above-named officers of the ADC convened a fake and kangaroo NEC meeting on the 26th August 2022.

“The said fake NEC meeting lacks the constitutional requirement for adequate notice for NEC meeting as provided by article 23 A & B of the constitution of the African Democratic Congress, 2018 (as amended) for the mandatory requirement for giving seven days notice for a national executive committee (NEC) meeting. The said meeting was overcrowded with unknown persons and miscreants. All the state chairmen walked out of the meeting as unknown persons and none NEC members in large numbers were seated at the meeting venue.”

The letter entitled: ‘Illegal and Fake NEC Meeting, Gross Violation of ADC Constitution and the Electoral Act by ADC National Chairman, National Secretary, and the NWC,’ read in part: “The purpose of this illegal act is best known to the National Chairman, the National Secretary and other members of the NWC. The said purpose was revealed when the fake meeting purportedly extended the tenure of the NWC.

“Article 24 A of the constitution of the African Democratic Congress, 2018 (as amended) provides that the National Working Committee (NWC) can only be voted into through a national convention and it is only through a national convention can their tenure be also extended. This is also provided in Article 2, Article 17 (2) M, N, O, P, and also Article 23 A & B of the constitution of the African Democratic Congress, 2018 (as amended).

“Now, the question is; does the ADC constitution allow NEC or did the ADC constitution provide that NEC have such powers to extend the tenure of the NWC? The answer is NO. The only body that has such power to vote in or extend the tenure of the NWC is via a national convention.

“It is important to state here that what transpired on the 26″ of August 2022 at the ADC secretariat is fake, unconstitutional, null and void, and of no effect. INEC should disregard such illegalities and prevail on ADC to convene a convention for the purpose of electing a new National Working Committee.”

Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja- reporting