The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has announced that it has severed relationships with those who dumped the party to contest the National Assembly election under various political platforms in next year’s election.
Some members of the party who lost out at the last primary election have obtained nomination forms from other political parties to contest the election with the hope of returning to the party after the next year’s election.
However, the Reconciliation Committee, in a statement by the Secretary of the party, Hon. Dele Olanubi said loyalty to Tinubu and party candidates is non-negotiable
Quoting the Chairman of the Committee, Prince Biyi Poroye, said the overriding interest of party discipline, institutional integrity, and the collective destiny of our great party, the APC in the state is sacrosanct.
The Committee hereby served a formal notice that the APC shall neither condone nor tolerate any form of anti-party activity by any member, irrespective of status or previous contribution, saying membership of the APC is a sacred covenant of loyalty, fidelity, and singular allegiance.
Olanubi said: “Any member who has elected to abandon the platform of the APC to contest an elective office under the banner of another political party has, by that singular act, irrevocably severed all relationship with our party. Such persons stand completely dissociated from the APC; they are no longer members in any form or residual capacity.
“In the prevailing spirit of genuine reconciliation currently being prosecuted across Ondo State, the Chairman, Hon. Biyi Poroye, emphasises that every true member must remain steadfastly committed to the doctrine, ethos, and electoral cause of the APC.
“Loyalty must be total. Support for candidates flying the party’s flag is non-negotiable. Attendance at any clandestine meetings, consultations, or engagements with individuals who contested and lost under other platforms, or who have returned to contest against the APC, constitutes a grave breach of party discipline.
“Any member found wanting in this regard shall forfeit every privilege, recognition, and entitlement associated with membership of our great party. Such individuals shall be blacklisted as persons actively working against the collective interest of the APC and, by extension, against the interest of our presidential candidate, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“There exists no moral or political justification for purporting to support the President while simultaneously undermining the party’s candidates at other levels. Such duplicity is anathema to progressive politics and shall be treated as such.
“We therefore enjoin all members to remain one hundred percent committed to the APC and to eschew every manifestation of anti-party conduct. Those who have already departed to contest on rival platforms must cease the dangerous pretence of still advancing the interest of President Tinubu while working subterraneously against APC candidates. Their membership has terminated; their residual claims to party affinity are null and void.”
Olanubi said in furtherance of its reconciliation mandate, the Committee held a constructive engagement with Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and that the Governor firmly maintained that he has never, throughout his political life, been involved in any form of anti-party activity.
He quoted the governor to have said he has remained a loyal member of one progressive platform- from the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which metamorphosed into the All Progressives Congress- and categorically declared that he will neither join nor support any other political party, nor lend support to any individual who has left the APC to contest under a different platform.
The Committee assured all APC families across the state that every outstanding issue will be resolved with the utmost urgency and fairness. He said the work of reconciliation continues as it laboured to weld the party into a cohesive, purposeful force ahead of the general elections next year.
According to him, “The disturbing intelligence that certain members have been attending meetings convened by persons who have exited the APC remains troubling and runs counter to the painstaking efforts of this Committee. Anti-party activity ranks among the gravest acts of indiscipline known to the APC and attracts the severest sanctions, including expulsion.
“We appeal, once more, to every genuine member to remain unwavering in commitment to the party’s cause. Do not introduce fresh layers of discord at a time when the Committee is striving to bring every progressive son and daughter of Ondo State on board for unity of purpose and enduring camaraderie. The APC is greater than any individual ambition. Discipline, loyalty, and fidelity to the party’s candidates remain the only acceptable path.”
