The National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria’s ruling party, has assures supporters particularly in Kwara State that the Ishola Balogun Fulani-led APC executive, which it sacked in the state to pave the way for the Bashir Bolarinwa-led Executive, remains expelled.
The APC came up with this reiteration as a Kwara State High Court, allegedly under the control of Senate President Bukola Saraki, was said to have ruled on Wednesday that Balogun Fulani is authentic chairman of APC in the party.
It will be recalled that Kwara APC executive under Ishola Balogun Fulani had publicly asked Bukola Saraki to lead them out of APC and all of them including their lawmakers both national and state moved to Peoples Democratic followed by Saraki their leader.
The action considered anti-party by the APC highest level led to the Balogun Fulani exco dissolution and was subsequently expelled.
It was long after the defections and Saraki discovered it was a failure, The DEFENDER learned, that Balogun Fulani resorted to claiming that he remained ACP chairman in the state and then moved to the Kwara high court to push his course.
But the APC National Secretariat insisted that the decision to expel Ishola Balogun Fulani and others is well within the powers of the National Working Committee (NWC) which investigated and deliberated on the anti-party activities of the sacked state executive.
According to the statement by Issa-Onilu, the APC said: “We wish to restate the National Working Committee (NWC) decision to expel the erstwhile Ishola Balogun Fulani-led All Progressives Congress (APC) Executive in Kwara State.
“This is in view of widespread misinterpretations given to a judgement of an Ilorin High Court on Wednesday.
“The decision to expel Ishola Balogun Fulani and others is well within the powers of the NWC which investigated and deliberated on the anti-party activities of the sacked state executive.
“Meanwhile, it is important to note that direct primaries were used to elect party candidates for Kwara State, hence State executives had no role to play in the primaries. Only candidates that emerged from the direct primary exercise conducted by the NWC inaugurated committee was submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). These candidates remain the authentic flagbearers of APC.
“We therefore urge the good people of Kwara State and indeed the APC members to remain unrelenting in our collective and irreversible movement towards total liberation of the state. The “o to ge” train is on course and has full endorsement of the National Working Committee of the party.”
