Solomon Dalung, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has accused Rauf Aregbesola, the party’s national secretary, of unilaterally appointing caretaker committees across the states, saying the move undermines a pending case before the supreme court.
The former minister of youth and sports development spoke in
a video posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
He alleged that appointment letters purportedly signed by
Aregbesola had been distributed to members of the caretaker committees to
manage the party’s affairs nationwide.
“This evening, I bring a strong-worded message to the
leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Nigeria. It seems that
the party has not learned any lesson from the plethora of litigations
confronting it,” he said.
“We woke up this morning with social media inundated with
letters of appointment of caretaker committee members for the 36 states, signed
by the national secretary of the party.”
Dalung said the appointments involved persons removed from
office by the courts of appeal, adding that their appeal against the decisions
is still pending before the apex court.
He described the action as a “complete disregard for the
judicial process”, accusing the party leadership of attempting to undermine the
judiciary and pre-empt the apex court’s decision.
“This action of the party is intended to undermine the
integrity of the judiciary and pre-empt the decision on the matter before your
lordships at the supreme court,” he said.
“This act is unacceptable to right-thinking Nigerians and
lovers of the principles of the rule of law and democracy. And as a minister in
the temple of justice and a barrister of the supreme court, I will not stand
with the ADC to undermine the judicial process.”
He urged the party to suspend the planned inauguration of
the caretaker committees, scheduled for Wednesday, pending the supreme court’s
decision.
Dalung warned that proceeding with the inauguration could
undermine the party’s legal challenge and jeopardise its participation in the
2027 elections.
“Should the party proceed to inaugurate these persons, the
consequences are obvious. It means the ADC is not committed to participating in
the 2027 elections,” he said.
“The ADC cannot approach the supreme court to challenge the
decision of the court of appeal, which affirmed the removal of these persons
following the state congresses and national convention, and then turn around,
while the appeal is pending, to invite the same persons and inaugurate them as
chairmen of caretaker committees.”
‘IT’S A SELF-INFLICTED INJURY’
He also questioned why Aregbesola signed the appointment
letters alone, arguing that the party’s administrative protocol requires both
the national chairman and national secretary to sign letters of such magnitude.
“This letter was unilaterally signed by the national
secretary. Why did the national chairman not sign the appointment letters of
the caretaker committees, whose members would be saddled with the
responsibility of managing the affairs of the party in the states?” he queried.
Dalung said he had repeatedly advised against the
appointments and distanced himself from the party’s decision.
He warned that if the supreme court eventually rules against
the ADC, the party should not blame external forces, describing any resulting
setback as “a self-inflicted injury”.
He called on the party leadership to withdraw the
appointment letters and await the apex court’s decision.
“Otherwise, the party is going to pay dearly for it, and I
do not think the supreme court will sympathise with the party because this
would amount to the ADC acting as the supreme court of Nigeria and determining
what will happen,” he added.p
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