Following the emergence of Hon. Isaac Ajiboye Omodewu and 35 others as state executives of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State last Saturday, Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) has called for a meeting of party’s gladiators in the state.
A party source at the national secretariat of the party told our Abuja correspondent that the CECPC has summoned a meeting of Oyo APC Stakeholders for Thursday. According to the party chieftain, the move is to reconcile the warring groups.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Oyo State Congress Committee for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Gambo Lawan narrated his ordeals in the hands of political hoodlums on Saturday.
“I was under hostage for 12 hours. There are virtually over 2,000 people who barricaded my hotel, put heavy buses on the road and only a human can cross and no vehicle” he said.
Reacting to a statement credited to Diran Iyantan, Ralph Igbokwe, Olarewaju Edun and Abdullahi Kontagora that they were not part of the party’s state congress held at Liberty Stadium Ibadan on Saturday, Gambo said those four were not part of the list of committee members given to him by APC national secretariat, stating that he worked with six other persons.
The self-acclaimed committee members noted that owing to controversy on the authenticity of delegate lists and some protesting members of the APC, who blocked access to their hotel, they only managed to escape from the apartment.
They expressed surprise that the congress held, noting that the Secretary of the Committee, Abdulahi Bello was on his own and did not have their authority to conduct the congress.
He said he only worked with the list handed over to him by the national secretariat of the party, asking those who think that the list was falsified to take their agitation to the APC headquarters.
Gambo said he was the one that mandated his secretary, Abdulahi Bello to conduct the congress because he was held hostage in his hotel for about 12 hours.
Gambo said: “As far as I am concerned, I do not know any falsified list and falsified list never existed. The list I gave to the stakeholders was the only authentic list the national secretariat gave me.
“How can anybody falsify a list that a national party under the leadership of Mai Mala Buni gave me? If anybody thinks the list was falsified, they should go to the national secretariat and complain; the claim that the list was falsified is baseless and unfounded.
“I have done my congress, whether I am physically presented or not, the congress has been conducted and it was successful.
“Since the secretary was on the convention ground, I gave him the mandate to preside over and he did it and it was successful.
“We are seven and four were with the secretary at the congress ground. Only myself and two others were not there but I gave the mandate to the secretary to continue with the congress. In a committee, any member of the committee can be nominated to preside over the congress. There is nothing illegal.
“Did you see any other chairmanship contestant step forward at the congress venue apart from one? That means consensus has been achieved. The chairman appeared physically, by himself. If any other chairmanship contestant appeared physically, then we would done physical election by the delegates.
“The four members that claimed to be my committee members are not members of my committee. I do not know them. They are not part of the list the National Secretariat sent to me as members of my committee.
“All the positions were done by consensus. We carried every single person along” Gambo concluded.
