Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Action Democracy Party (ADP) has opted out as a member of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) for what it described as anti-party activities on the part of State Chairmen.
ADP National Chairman Yabaji Yusuf Sani, who addressed newsmen in Abuja on Monday explained that the reason for the formation of the Council had been ridiculed by some members whose consciences had been seared because of greed.
Sani called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to summon all political parties and address the problem before it gets out of hand.
His statement reads:
‘There are States where our members that are State Chairmen they are paying them every month and anytime elections are coming what we realise is that they assemble chairmen of all political parties and distribute money and on the day of election they will not support you.
‘In fact, that agency should be proscribed because it is against the agent of the political structures in this country.
‘Our Party is, however. concerned that these objectives are being thwarted by some desperate politicians whose mission is to destroy the tenets of democracy, undermine the survival of opposition parties and make Nigeria a One-Party State.
‘In view of this development, the National Working Committee of the Action Democratic Party at its 19th NWC meeting held on the 26th of July, 2020 resolved to review the ADP’s membership of IPAC in order to insulate our party from the anti-party activities of the IPAC executives in almost all the 36 states of the federation, who operate more like Special Assistants to the state governors who fraudulently use them for clandestine activities to undermine the political interest of the opposition parties in their respective states.
‘Up until the decision of our NWC against the continued membership of IPAC, some ADP state Chairman were on the payroll of some state governors.
‘ADP frowns at the anti-party activities of these opposition parties State Chairmen (IPAC Executives) and considers it inimical to the growth of democracy in Nigeria and capable of making the country a One-Party state.
‘In light of the foregoing, all state chapters of the ADP have been directed to refrain forthwith from participating in all IPAC activities in their respective states until further notice.’
On the recent Court of Appeal judgement regarding the deregistration of political parties by INEC, Sani commended the affected political parties for challenging the outcome.