APC Chieftain Faults Sobotie’s Constituted Emerhor C’ttee, Calls For Rectification Of Constitutional Error

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, Michael E. Ukusare, Esq, has called on the State Chairman of the party, Elder Omeni Sobotie, to correct the constitutional error concerning the recent appointment of Olorogun O’tega Emerhor as the Chairman of a Reconciliation Committee by an “Expanded State Caucus” that is not recognized by the party’s constitution.

Ukusare, who said he has played several major roles in protecting the party’s interests, including pro bono court appearances, maintained that any effort to build peace and harmony within the party must be guided by the constitution.

In a strong worded letter, addressed to the party’s chairman and copied several party leaders, including Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, and state Police Commissioner and Director of DSS and others, Ukusare noted that the “Expanded State Caucus” meeting chaired by Sobotie on April 22, 2024, was a breach of the party’s constitution, as there is no such provision for an “Expanded State Caucus” in the APC’s constitution.

Ukusare urged the State Executive Committee (SEC) to urgently meet and constitute the Reconciliation and Peace Committee lawfully, to avoid any potential legal challenges, adding , however that his sole interest is the success of Olorogun Emerhor’s peace-building efforts, subject to the party’s constitution and the law.

The letter reads in parts; “Media reports have it that you presided over the meeting of a so-called ‘Expanded State Caucus’ of the APC in Delta State that appointed our highly respected founding leader of the Delta State APC, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, CON as the Chairman of a Reconciliation Committee to lead efforts for peace in the party. By a published press release supposed made by Olorogun Emerhor few days ago partly announcing his said appointment by the said ‘Expanded State Caucus’, I am further aware that he is ready to lead the party’s desire to increase its strengths by building much needed post-election harmony and peace following our major successes and regrettable denials in the 2023 general elections.

“Mr. Chairman, I speak objectively of “major successes” in the sense that this is the first time since 1999 that an opposition party was able to easily clinch two (2) senatorial seats in Delta State. Our party also won eight (8) seats in both the House of Representatives and the Delta State House of Representatives combined.

“Although we were regrettably denied a clear victory in the 2023 Delta State Governorship Election, a match of the lawful votes cast at the election with the spirit and letters of the new national electoral reforms has led to a reasoned consensus by a great many that the election was clearly won by our leader, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. This denial notwithstanding, the final electoral outcomes, as adjudged by the judiciary as our final electoral arbiter, attest to the incontestable fact that the APC made its strongest electoral impact in Delta State in 2023.

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“Going by this, it is undoubtedly well-advised to take proper steps to build on our 2023 successes rather than allow anyone within the party to rubbish our gains and make it difficult to make even better gains in the future. Like all responsible leaders of the APC, I am therefore wholly aligned with any lawful effort to give the party greater traction to succeed, starting with genuine reconciliation and cementing of all possible cracks within its ranks, where there are any.

“Sir, as founding leader of the party in Delta State, the respected Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, CON is unquestionably eminently qualified to help the party to make more progress, peacefully. However, that onerous duty is circumscribed and guided wholly by the Constitution of the party. Any effort supposedly taken by the party outside its constitution is ab initio a nullity because, as we say in law, nobody builds anything on nothing and expects it to stand.

“Sir, I wish that Olorogun O’tega succeeds as a peacebuilder, but he can only do so if a fundamental error committed solely by you as the State Chairman in calling for and chairing the meeting of body not recognised by the constitution of the party is immediately rectified by the State Executive Committee that is imbued with the power to do so, otherwise we are heading to a dead constitutional end.

“Sir, you clearly, absolutely and corruptly abused the powers of your office under the party’s constitution and acted in gross violation of same when you unilaterally called and chaired an illegitimate so-called ‘Expanded State Caucus’ meeting of the party in Asaba on the 22nd day of April, 2024. This is a serious breach of the party’s constitution but one is not inclined to focus on this breach.

“There is nothing like an ‘Expanded State Caucus’ in the entirety of the APC’s Constitution and nobody can contest this naked factual reality. The appellation ‘Expanded State Caucus’ is alien to the APC Constitution and its operation. Article 11, paragraph B(ii) of the APC Constitution clearly provides for a State Caucus, as an organ of the party, not a ‘Expanded State Caucus’. Yes, I have tremendous respect for all leaders who attended or participated in that meeting, but the constitution defines the limit of our respect for people and processes.

“Nobody, including you Sir, has the arbitrary power and authority to unilaterally expand the party’s constitution. Doing so is a breach of the constitution itself for which appropriate sanctions ought to easily apply or a legal challenge ought to be initiated by stakeholders following due process, but these are not of interest to peace lovers like me, at least for now. The focus is strictly on abiding obedience to the constitution”.

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