Nigeria's ADC South-West backs National Secretary, rejects removal call

The South-West leadership of Nigeria's African Democratic Congress (ADC) has publicly backed the party's National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, rejecting calls for his removal. They dismissed allegations against him as false and insisted that the party's National Executive Committee, not the National Secretary, approved candidates for the 2027 general elections.

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Our attention has been drawn to a petition addressed to our National Chairman, Sen David Mark, calling for the removal of our National Secretary. This petition was authored by certain individuals parading themselves as leaders of the party in the South-West, a claim not recognised by the party’s national leadership.

The zonal leadership, headed by National Vice Chairman (South-West) Akinbowale Omole, issued a clarification after a meeting of recognized national and zonal officers from the region. They labeled the accusers as "disgruntled elements" aligned with a former minister and a federal lawmaker who recently lost a legal challenge at the Court of Appeal.

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First, these are the same individuals who dragged the party to court despite repeated efforts at reconciliation, which they rebuffed. Second, the allegations against the national secretary are baseless, unsubstantiated, and misleading.

In a statement, Omole detailed the meeting's attendees, including key national and zonal officials. The group rejected a petition purportedly from Southwest ADC leaders demanding Aregbesola's dismissal. The statement asserted that the petitioners are the same individuals who previously sued the party despite reconciliation attempts.

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Thirdly, it defies logic that the National Secretary who serves as the party’s chief accounting officer and is saddled with the responsibility of carrying out party decisions as may be determined, from time to time, by the party’s highest organ, would be accused of establishing parallel structures or manipulating the outcome of the primaries.

The South-West leadership argued that the allegations against the National Secretary are unsubstantiated and ignore his constitutional duties. They stressed that he implements decisions made by the party's highest organs and serves as the chief accounting officer. The statement concluded by noting that the National Executive Committee had duly approved primary outcomes before candidate names were submitted to INEC.

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They failed to tell the public that in line with the provisions of the ADC constitution, the National Executive Committee of the party duly approved the outcome of the primaries before names of candidates were forwarded to INEC.