As NEC meeting prepares to kick-off, APC Secretariat sealed after ‘insulting’ letter to President

Insults and lack of respect for principalities and powers are creeping into the affairs of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which Secretariat was Thursday sealed, after a Wednesday lacerating statement letter by its National Working Committee (NWC) to President Muhammadu Buhari accusing of being involved in illegality and criminality by hosting and attending a National Executive Committee(NEC).
Less than 30 minutes ago, those spotted at the meeting in the Villa are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege; Deputy Speaker Idris Wase; House Leader, Hassan Doguwa and the Deputy Chief Whip, Hon. Nnenna Ukeje
Goverrnors also spotted there are those of Kwara, Kebbi, Kano, Ekiti, Gombe , Osun , Ogun, Lagos, Nasarawa , Niger , Jigawa, Plateau , Imo, Kogi.
Policemen arrived APC Secretariat, second time this week, in what is interpreted as a pre-emptive measure to stop rebelling NWC members from holding a counter meeting to nullify the one the President is participating in at the Aso Rock Villa.
Staff of the Secretariat were turned back by policemen in two patrol vans and two Peugeot 604 cars that cordoned off the building.
Acting Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the APC (South-South), Hilliard Etta; and Waziri Bulama, Acting National Secretary, in a statement said the NWC has opted out of the National Executive Committee (NEC) holding at the Villa.
They stated: “We wish to unequivocally state that members of the National Working Committee (NWC) believe that the President was offered wrong advice or blackmailed into lending his weighty office to the illegality of the National Executive Committee meeting purportedly convened by one Victor Giadom on 25th June, 2020,” the statement read.
“We hereby respectfully implore Mr. President to kindly avail himself with facts of the matter regarding the impasse presently experienced by the party so as to guide him in his assessment of the matter because we are sure that the President, if properly advised, would come to the conclusion that the meeting convened by Chief Victor Giadom bothers on illegality and criminality.
“The National Working Committee (NWC) regrets to turn down the invitation to the illegal and unconstitutional National Executive Committee (NEC) convened by Chief Victor Giadom.
“We believe that attending such a meeting will amount to embracing illegalities and turning a blind eye to the infractions on the Constitution of our great Party.”
Amidst the apparent disarray, Leader of the party in the South-West, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, joined the fray backing the NWC.
His words: “I am still looking for any National or State Chairman of any political party whether ruling or not that has completely solved all the problems in the party. Even if the party is just a week old.
“The Chairman has been a tireless campaigner and mobilizer for the party. He has steered the party through difficult elections. His contributions should not be undervalued now that the bulk of elections are behind us.
“To do so would be an act of ingratitude.
The [coup] plotters launched their attack solely because they perceive the chairman as an obstacle to their 2023 ambitions.
“In a well-structured society, people come to understand that the time for politics is seasonal; it is periodic. The responsibilities of governance are what are perpetual. Many of our politicians sadly have inverted this reality.
“We even had a National Deputy Secretary improperly calling for an NEC meeting on the basis that he believed himself to be the acting National Chairman.
“Clearly, this man would not have summoned the temerity to make such a move had he not been instigated by powerful individuals, whom he thought would reward or, at least, protect him for committing the wrongful act.
“We must rally around President Buhari. Instead of everyone saying they are working for the party and nation but going their separate ways based on their selfish designs, we must help him build a stronger national consensus on policies that will ensure safety and bring greater prosperity.
“Many of us expended sweat, tears, toil and sleepless nights to build this party. Our personal sacrifices were not insignificant. We built this party not simply as a vehicle for personal ambition. We built the party because we saw it as perhaps the only enduring hope to bring progressive governance to this nation.
“Those who now seek to abuse the party by using it as their personal device do it great harm. They should not be allowed to sacrifice this collective enterprise at the altar of their self-aggrandizement.
“To be an APC member means more than merely carrying a membership card. It means to believe in a set of ideals and principles geared to our highest purpose as a party and a nation.”