Onetime Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Muiz Banire has warned that the crisis rocking the party is capable of consuming the party.
Banire revealed this during an interview, urging the party’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomole to step aside for the progress of the party.
According to the ex-chairman of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Oshiomhole should first respect the petition laid before him by some members of the party in a bid to clear himself of all allegations, adding that he should adhere to the principles of the party constitution and not act as a judge on his own case.
“If you ask me from my own personal perspective, honestly speaking I have said so a few weeks ago, is that the party chairman should honourable step aside if it means to save the party and I will explain why. The reality of the matter is that where there are allegations here and there and your legitimacy is been challenged here and there, the honourable thing to do is for you to step aside and it is not new.
“Allegations were not made against me by EFCC on the social media, I volunteered to step aside and equally approached the EFCC myself and nobody asked me to go to say this is my case. So if the ward, for example, is saying that he has committed grievous misconduct against the party constitution and some other allegations. And they are petitions all the way through the local government to the state and national body, it takes the fear and the proper thing to do for him to do is to step aside, particularly in the hearing of those petitions.
“But where, for example, that you prevented or concluded on your own volition that such petition is not worth be considered, then you already infringe not only the right of fair hearing of the petition itself but equally, you have been a judge in your own case. So for me, where you now have the two conflicting decisions right now. Besides, I have not read the content of the Kano Federal High Court. I will be particularly shocked if it’s aware that a similar order has been made, then I will be extremely very shocked. But if the second one exists along what has been purported to convey, then it implies the two are extant. So it is like choosing one or the other now. And the implication is that the police will now be in the middle, in one respect, there is an order saying police should prevent him and the other saying police should allow him. So is now a free-for-all market and that for me is an invitation to anarchy.
Banire also advised that the party must fix their internal crisis which has affected them in previous elections in some states.
In his words: “Well, it is interesting that the chairman can purport to be stating the position of the law and wanting his applicability. As far as I am concerned, that is why I said as a lawyer I regard it as a subjudice, so I might not be able to say much. The allegation that he’s making right now is what he himself has been perpetrating in the office as the chairman. I will give you a good example. Recently I read on social media that some appointments were made of national officers, of course, that is inconsistent. It can never be correct. If you look at the article 20 of the party constitution, he talks about the fact that all national officers must be democratically elected via the convention after nomination under article 31.
“What is been done now is an infraction of the party constitutional provision. The same manner again you will realize that a few months ago, this same chairman presided over National Working Committee (NWC) purported to have suspended two governors as members of the party, I think the deputy national chairman and one other person. These are complete constitutional aberration. So, if you are chosen to continuously violate the constitution, it does not lie morally in your mouth to start complaining about somebody else violating the constitution.
“Of course, if the interpretation of the Edo people is that you register with us, so we can deregister you or suspend you. Well, the court will determine the stand of that argument. The reality is that being a national officer truly is quite distinct from being a member of the party. They are two different things. But when you look at our article 31 of the constitution, it tells you that for you to be a national officer or to be an officer of the party at all, you must first be a member of the party. The question is if for instance you are suspended as a member, can you continue in the light of that to be a national chairman that is an issue for the determination of the court. If the situation failed to be fixed, it might bring an end to the party,” he said.
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