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I’m ashamed Gen Useni can be manipulated by
small boys -
Etiebet
In the past weeks,
the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) had been embroiled in a crisis of
confidence with two factions emerging, one led by the embattled National
Chairman, Chief Don Etiebet, and the other by General Jeremiah Useni. Several
efforts have reportedly been made to reconcile the warring political leaders to
no avail. While Etiebet has maintained that he remains the bona fide chairman,
Useni insists that he is in charge. But, Etiebet, who has control of the
party’s national secretariat in Abuja in this interview with Group Politics Editor, Felix Ofou, dismisses the retired
general with a wave of the hand and also accuses him of forgery, among other
allegations. Excerpts:
Recently, the
forum of ANPP governors met with Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, the chairman of your
party’s Board of Trustees, where among others, the decision was taken to
convene a NEC meeting. Does the ANPP constitution empower them to do so?
The governors and
the Board of Trustees did not take decisions about NEC. They were merely
clarifying situations and informing the public about the happenings in the
party. You see, the dissident group had succeeded in manipulating the press for
sometime. And I believe that it is my duty to expose the fallacies of the
dissident group. The press has portrayed the impression that there was a
meeting of the NEC of our party where a decision was taken to suspend me as
national chairman. And this is absolutely and totally wrong. I must also tell
you that the dissident group had almost succeeded, so much so that when the
governors and the Board of Trustees took the decision to clarify developments
within the party and said that the status quo remain, the press said that the
suspension on Don Etiebet had been lifted, that Etiebet had returned as
chairman. But Don Etiebet has never gone to anywhere from his office. Never.
What happened was that I summoned a meeting of the NEC for September 9. By the
constitution of our party, we have to give between seven to 14 days notice and
announce it either on print or electronic media. The constitution specifically
says I must also state the time, date and venue of the meeting. That was what I
stated for September 9. I also scheduled a meeting of the national caucus of
the party for September 8 in my house in Abuja. Actually, the meeting of the
national caucus usually precedes that of the NEC so that at the NEC, proposals
from the national caucus meeting can be ratified. While the NEC meeting was
scheduled for the 9th, the crisis ensued on the 8th, which led to the
suspension of Governor Attahiru Bafarawa of Sokoto State by NEC. There were
also moves to remove me at the same time. Documents were flying all over the
place and chairmen of the states were being mobilised to remove me as national
chairman. Their plan was to remove me on the 8th and then fly in a chartered
aircraft that had been stationed at the airport to Sokoto.
Perhaps you may go
and ask them what the chartered aircraft was doing at the Abuja airport. What
was is it doing there? I am talking about the Boeing 737 ADC aircraft that was
parked from 8am ready for Sokoto. Why was it done? They had a motive for doing
so. Clearly, the motive was not to go and pay Bafarawa a solidarity visit
because they never knew he would be suspended. The plan was to hijack NEC
members arriving for the meeting of the 9th. What they did was to station
somebody at the party national secretariat in Abuja, from where they started
diverting delegates to the NEC meeting. They took them to a hotel where they
revealed their plan to have me removed. Some of them were made to sign
documents, but most of the signatures on the documents were forged.
Interestingly, they claimed in the same document that they had a resolution of
some state chairmen and not NEC. So, there was never a resolution or meeting of
NEC because none was called for the 8th of September. The only one called was
that of the 9th. And you will remember that I addressed the press in the
morning of the 9th at the Yobe State Government Lodge in Abuja postponing the
NEC meeting. And I said the new data would be published later. The resolution,
which they keep referring to, is only that of ANPP state chairmen and some NEC
members. That’s what the document says. It’s not a resolution of
NEC. And this is the resolution purportedly relieving me from office. A leader
of the party like General Jeremiah Useni or any other person cannot just call
some chairmen or some members of NEC to his or her house and make them sign
documents that would be binding on the party. It cannot happen. Therefore, all
these claims about removing me are fraudulent; it’s illegal and
unconstitutional. But, like I said earlier, they have been able to manipulate
them into believing that there was a NEC meeting. According to the constitution
of our party, the national chairman, who is me, is the only person entitled to
call a NEC meeting. Failing in that, a decision of two-thirds of all NEC
members in writing and requesting a meeting to be held on a particular date,
time and venue must be sent to the national secretariat 14 days before the
proposed date. There was no such resolution of two-thirds of NEC members before
the said decision to remove me was taken. So everything that was done is ultra
vires and of no effect. So, I was never removed. Additionally, when I addressed
a press conference on the morning of the 9th of September, two things were
announced; that is the lifting of the suspension of Bafarawa and postponement
of the NEC meeting. Then we also announced a recall of the national secretary
who had earlier been suspended. Our constitution is clear on how to reprimand,
censure, fine, debarment from holding office, removal from office, suspension
and expulsion from the party. The constitution says that where it is proposed
to expel a member of the executive political office holder or a member of the
legislative from membership of the party, such a proposal must be submitted to
NEC. So, when it is proposed to expel or suspend, it is me and my national
executive of the party that has powers. NWC has powers for the day-to-day
running of the party. So, you see that the media has been fed with the wrong
information. That, for me, is the bane of what is going on. So every time Gen
Useni sends text messages inviting them to his sitting room and issues a
statement thereafter that NEC met, it is illegal and fraudulent to do so. I can
tell you that we are giving General Useni and his group long ropes to tie themselves.
And when they are through tying themselves, they will see the consequences of
their action.
But you have not
answered specifically whether the Governors Forum or the Board of Trustees have
powers to call or fix NEC meetings. Do they also have powers to postpone such
meetings?
It is only one,
Chief Don Etiebet, the national chairman of the party that has the powers to do
so. I am the only authority recognised by the constitution. The alternative is
that two-thirds of members of NEC or any other committee must sign, giving
notice 14 days before the proposed meeting.
Does that mean
that announcement of the NEC meeting and that of the national caucus of the
party fixed for Maiduguri next month made by the governors and chairman of the
Board of Trustees is null and void?
What the governors
and the Board of Trustees did was to recommend that the said meeting should
hold. And we met only last week to ratify their recommendations. We could have
refused, in which case, the advice would have been of no effect. It is in the
minutes of the National Working Committee meeting that we have accepted the
meetings fixed for Maiduguri, that is the only way the meetings can be
legalised.
Are you aware
that Gen Useni still maintains that the Maiduguri meeting is unconstitutional?
I agree that the
Governors Forum and the Board of Trustees have advisory roles by our
constitution. They also have very critical roles in resolving conflicts within
the party. But, as I told you, the Maiduguri meeting has been endorsed by me
and the NWC, which have powers to do so. If the NWC or myself had rejected the
recommendations, then the issue of unconstitutionality would have made sense.
The Governors Forum and the Board of Trustees have interceding roles, and since
there is a crisis in the party, some people are aggrieved. You don’t
expect the governors or the board of trustees to stay aloof or pretend that
nothing is happening. And that is what they have done by setting up a
reconciliation committee to bring all the factions together.
How true is the
claim by General Useni that 32 of the state chairmen are behind him?
Have you seen the
document, which they claimed was signed by 32 state chairmen? It is forged.
Even the document allegedly signed by 25 senators is forged. If you look at the
document, you will see that most of the signatures came from one handwriting.
We have taken steps to verify this. If somebody like Senator Albert Legogie, a
former senate president, cannot write his name correctly, then you should be
very worried about the authenticity of these documents that Gen Useni and his
group are busy circulating. Having said that, do you know all the state
chairmen and all members of NEC by face? And if they claim that they have 32
chairmen, have they ever introduced them in person to you? They have not. I
cannot just call people to my house and claim that they are chairmen of the
party in the states. I think the problem is that the media allows itself to be
manipulated without verifying the authenticity of the claims. Let us try and
subject their claim to test. Six governors are not in support of General Useni
and his group. Do you expect the chairman of those states to be there? My
state, Akwa Ibom, and that of Admiral Aikhomu, which is Edo, Delta and Cross
River states, do you expect the chairmen to be with Useni? What of Katsina
where General Buhari comes from? Is the state chairman also with them? These
people are just lying. Do you know that before this crisis we met and decided
to set aside the executives in some states? General Useni and General Magashi,
who are now going about saying all sorts of things, were part of the meetings
where the decisions were taken, because they are members of the NWC, which
ratified the decisions. About six states were replaced by caretaker committees.
Today, Useni and Magashi are insisting that the removed executives should be
reinstated. Now, do you expect the caretaker committee chairman to agree to
Useni’s plans to be replaced? So, at the least, you should expect that 16
states cannot be with them. It may also interest you to know that NEC is made
up of 190 members. So, even if you have 32 members with you, that is not all
members of NEC and clearly you do not have the majority. And I have shown you
the documents proving that everything is a forgery. Some of those in the list
were in the hospital when their names were included and signed for. Some of
them have also left the ANPP. So, how do you justify the list? They never knew
we would have access to these documents. I am very disturbed. I am very disturbed
that somebody of General Useni’s caliber is allowing himself to be used
by small boys and can be taken into this fraud, all because people are
desperate for power. You can go and find out from the senators and chairmen
whose names are on the list whether what you have in these documents are their
authentic signatures.
• To be
continued tomorrow
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