The governing APC conducted its recent congresses in different states throughout Nigeria. As a result of the Congresses, the party established appeal committees to help members with different concerns. The Governor Mai Mala Buni headed caretaker committee inaugurated the committees, and they have started working again. Several people have filed petitions contesting the ward congresses in Lagos.
It was reported by The Punch that those who made the complaints also included the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode Campaign Organization. Lagos for Lagos, the Conscience Forum, and the Democrats Political Group are mentioned by the Chairman of the Appeal Committee, Ibrahim Akaje. The reasons why they filed complaints to dispute the Lagos ward congress are briefly discussed.
First and foremost, they have complaints about the workout. This is the primary reason for their initial opposition to the exercise. Some members of the party supported the agreement reached by consensus, while others opposed it. Should similar approaches be used nationwide? Although there were cases when consensus decision-making was extremely widely embraced, other cases were rejected outright. Even though the technique was not widely recognized, it was used in other areas. If the government had let each state vote on whatever approach favored the majority of the political party members, wouldn’t that have been fair? It is one of the potential reasons why these organizations are generating an attraction. In addition to the issue mentioned above, other organizations, such as the Ambode Campaign Organization, may have additional complaints about the parliament.
The APC has once again publicly called on people who have petitioned to come forward so that the party can hear everyone’s complaints and concerns to establish a sense of peace and stability. Even while it is one of the reasons they are petitioning, there are other issues as well. To enable peace to return, they are seeking to work with the party. APC is fully aware that its choices and activities may not sit well with everyone in the party when it comes to political parties. So that the party remains peaceful and becomes even stronger, it established an appeal committee to address any legitimate complaints.
In addition, the APC enforces strict party discipline and prohibits party members from going to court on party matters; therefore, other organizations with interest in challenging the APC in court (including the Ambode Campaign Organization) submitted the petitions before the appeal committee. This order came from the APC’s top decision-making body, the National Executive Committee (NEC). It was delivered during last year’s NEC meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari and other senior party officials. Under the NEC directive, all court proceedings involving APC members or party issues had to be withdrawn.
Since then, APC members have been required to utilize the party’s internal dispute resolution procedures rather than court. Another significant reason these organizations went to the appeal committee before the APC hearing is because of the APC instruction. The committee is expected to guarantee that justice is delivered in the matters brought before it by the organizations. This would restore party members’ faith in the APC’s appeal committees and encourage them to avoid going to court as the party has requested.
