Why Lanre Isah-Onilu Cannot Continue To Pose As The National Publicity Secretary Of APC – By Onwuasoanya FCC Jones
Loading ...I watched the man who impersonates as the National Publicity Secretary of our great Party on Channels Television this morning, as he fruitlessly tried to justify his illegal posturing as the National Publicity Secretary of our great Party. It was clear from his facial disconcert when the question on the legitimacy of his posturing as the National Publicity Secretary of the Party was posed to him, that Lanre Isah-Onilu is aware of the validity of the argument against him.
Like one of the panelists on the Channels Sunrise Daily aptly informed him, this argument is purely on Constitutionality rather than on the basis of emotions, politics or even ethnicity. Now let me break it down more properly for Mr. Lanre and anyone or cabal that may be behind the illegality that gave him the confidence to impersonate as our Party’s spokesman;
The only thing Mr. Lanre Isah-Onilu could lay his hands on as justification for his IMPOSITION as National Publicity Secretary of the Party is the debatable story that the Party zoned the position of the National Publicity Secretary of the Party to Kwara State, and that the Party in Kwara supposedly nominated him for the position and his nomination was ‘duly ratified by the NWC of the Party’.
This line of argument exposes Mr. Lanre Isah-Onilu as not only being arrogantly undemocratic but pathetically ignorant of the basic provisions of our Party’s Constitution and philosophies. Our Party does not recognize zoning, but insistently upholds the principle of VOTING, to protect majority rule and majority benefit, which is the strongest foundation upon which democracy is hinged. By our Party’s Constitution, zoning of Party’s offices to particular areas is mostly suggestive rather than binding. This is why the power to decide who becomes an officer of the Party at any level is left in the hands of members of the Party through duly elected delegates at either the convention or congress of the Party. If Lanre Isah-Onilu was posturing as the State Publicity Secretary of the Party in Kwara State, his argument may have been a little reasonable, even though, not entirely, tenable. The Party’s Constitution is very loud about the need to ensure that Party members, vote either through voice vote or ballot.
It is on record that since after the 23rd June, 2018 Elective National Convention of our great Party in which current national officers of the Party emerged , the Party has held only one other National Convention for the sole purpose of affirming the presidential candidature of President Muhammadu Buhari. There has never been any other convention called for the purpose of filling up the vacancy created by the resignation of Alhaji Bolaji Abdullahi, who was duly elected as the National Publicity Secretary of the Party during the last elective convention of the Party.
Another organ of the Party that would have conferred some level of legitimacy on the imposition of Lanre Isah-Onilu as National Publicity Secretary is the National Executive Committee of the Party. However, a decision by the National Executive Committee could be challenged, as the Constitution of our Party is clear on the organ that has powers to fill up Party posts at the national level, and that is the National Convention. The National Executive Committee is the principal executive body of the Party and is superior to every other organ of the Party except National Convention. Part of its powees
It is actually derogatory to the image of our great Party that someone could suggest that a group that our Party condones imposition in any form by claiming that his position as a member of the National Working Committee was decided by his own chapter of the Party and about 20 members of the National Working Committee out of the usual 21.
By the provisions of our Party’s Constitution, the only person who is empowered to speak on behalf of our Party is Mr. Yekini Nabena, who is the duly elected Assistant National Publicity Secretary of the Party. Yekini Nabena’s position as the Acting National Publicity Secretary of the Party is not in anyway subject to the caprices of anyone or organ of the Party. His position as the Acting National Publicity Secretary only expires when a national convention is convened and a new and substantive national Publicity Secretary is elected. No matter how anyone may chew this, the truth of the matter is that any other person posturing as the National Publicity Secretary of APC except, Mr. Yekini Nabena, is an impostor and must be treated as such by all law abiding and democracy respecting institutions and individuals.
Onwuasoanya FCC Jones is the State Publicity Secretary of the APC in Imo State. He writes from Owerri.
