APC Dismisses Collusion Claims, Blames ADC for Leadership Derecognition
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has firmly rejected accusations of its involvement in the recent derecognition of African Democratic Congress (ADC) leaders by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). According to the APC, the opposition party's internal challenges, which led to INEC's decision regarding Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, were entirely "self-inflicted."
"Utterly Self-Inflicted": APC's Stance on ADC Crisis
Speaking on News Central, Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary for the APC, unequivocally dismissed allegations suggesting the ruling party played a role in the unfolding events. Morka asserted that the opposition consistently generates its own predicaments.
"As I’ve always maintained, we are only concerned about our level of preparation and the effort we are making. We’re concerned about ourselves. It is the opposition that is obsessed about what APC does," Morka stated, emphasizing the APC's focus on its own agenda.
He further clarified that the APC had no part in the internal turmoil plaguing the ADC, which ultimately culminated in INEC's definitive decision.
"Even the most recent development that everyone is talking about, the INEC decision to derecognize the David Mark executive, that was utterly self-inflicted. APC didn’t do that. APC did not orchestrate the hijack of the ADC by that executive, we didn’t," Morka insisted, reiterating his party's non-involvement.
Constitutional Disregard Alleged as Root Cause
Morka attributed the genesis of the ADC's crisis to an alleged blatant disregard for the party’s foundational constitution by the affected leadership. He argued that the constitutional provisions for succession were overlooked in the leadership takeover.
"They did that, completely ignoring the rule of law, ignoring the constitution of the party they were putting themselves into. The party had a constitution about succession. So when you parachute into the party, you take over without reference to the constitutional stipulation about succession on how leadership is ordered in that party, this is the consequence," he explained.
The APC spokesperson maintained that those currently pointing fingers at the APC were, in fact, responsible for manufacturing the very situation they now decry.
"This was exactly made, manufactured by the same people who are complaining now and pointing fingers at the APC. We’re not concerned about all of that," Morka added, distancing his party from the internal strife.
INEC's Decision: Background
Previously, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had officially removed the names of Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola from its online portal, where they were listed as the National Chairman and National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), respectively. This action by INEC had triggered widespread discussion and speculation regarding the internal affairs of the ADC.