The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has rejected a suspension noticed issued by the party’s executives.
According to Mr Kachikwu, the tenure of the party’s Chairman, Ralph Nwosu has elapsed, therefore he has no capacity to suspend him from the party.
Speaking at a news conference in Abuja, the presidential candidate said all decisions taken by Mr Nwosu since August 28 are illegal, null and void in the eyes of the law according to the party’s constitution.
Earlier, ADC’s Deputy National Chairman (Politics), Bamidele Ajadi, announced the suspension in a statement after an emergency meeting of its National Working Committee (NWC) which was held on Friday.
The NWC accused Kachikwu of anti-party activities, defamation, and other acts of gross misconduct.
At the meeting, Ajadi said, the NWC had great concern about what it said was a baseless and defamatory video made, published, and circulated by Kachikwu, which was intended to disparage and impugn the integrity and image of a peaceful and transformation-oriented African Democratic Congress and its National Officers.
He said, “Dumebi’s speech in the video, contravened the principles and values upon which ADC is founded and the specific provision of Article 16 of the ADC Constitution”.
Beyond the video, the NWC accused Kachikwu of several other actions aimed at maligning the NWC members and of failing to provide any roadmap of his plans for the general elections.
These actions or inactions, according to the NWC, have put the chances of the party in the elections in jeopardy.
“His negative actions and/or inactions so far, have put in jeopardy the fate and prospects of all our candidates contesting for various offices across the country,” it said.
“The committee of the whole house, in a very clear and unequivocal term condemned the said video in its entirety and described it as a piece of badly crafted blackmail and mudslinging, and thereby unanimously recommended his immediate suspension from the party from today, Friday 2nd September 2022.”