Some members of the ruling All Progressive Congress(APC), the United Kingdom Chapter have lamented being disenfranchised during the party’s congress which was held in London on the 29th of June, 2024.  

SaharaReporters learned that the APC, under the supervision of the party's National Secretary, Sen. Ajibola Basiru, held its recent congress in the UK a few days ago, but some party members claimed the activities were marred with irregularities.

One of the affected members, Prince Olusanjo Adebola Olurebi accused the party’s leadership of not giving him the chance to exercise his franchise during the congress and thus, he urged for the immediate intervention of the party’s national working committee.

Olurebi also vowed to challenge the outcome of the congress in court if the national working committee of the party in Nigeria failed to address the grievances of the members who were tactically fenced out from participating in the congress.

 In a petition made available to the newsmen, Olurebi, through his solicitor, AXIS Solicitors said, “As a legitimate member of the APC UK, our client and several members of the party in the UK are completely disenfranchised by the failure of the system put in place by the National Secretary of the party on January 13, 2024. He came to the UK to harmonise and conjoin both national parties but failed to do so.

“As a consequence, our client has been denied his legitimate right to participate and vote in the congress of the party’s chapter to which he belongs as a fully paid-up member. Similarly, other members have been deprived of their legitimate right to participate in the election, which is the basis of democracy." 

Olurebi, who also served as the Asiwaju of Egbaland in Manchester, believes that the Interim Committee, which was established by the party's national secretary, Sen. Ajibola Basiru, has failed miserably and should be disbanded, with a new team formed to guide the party in the United Kingdom.

He was disappointed with the National Secretary for siding with some people to hold a congress when the interim committee had only met once. 

The Egba chairman accused Sen. Basiru of causing division among the party’s members in the United Kingdom by unilaterally appointing select members as leaders.

Olurebi mentioned further that the people chosen for both the interim committee and the next congress constituted a small proportion of the APC's teeming membership in the United Kingdom, which Sen. Ajibola has now vowed to drive away from the party, warning that this might signal death for the party in the diaspora.

He continued, “The interim committee inaugurated and put in place at the Central London meeting on January 13, 2024, has failed to execute the functions that it was charged to perform before culminating in a congress date. They have refused to call a general meeting of members and stakeholders to harmonise the party for over six months due to personal grievances between the chairman and secretary, jeopardising the collective interests of members in the UK.  

“Furthermore, the interim chairman is contesting for the chairmanship position at the proposed congress after manipulating the process and using his office to propagate his campaign, which is unjust, unfair, undemocratic, and against the party's constitution of level playing grounds for all contestants.

“You have also arranged for a stakeholder meeting on June 27, 2024; however, no communication of the same has been made to the majority of the members. Only a small number of the members were made aware of their support for their candidate. This is inappropriate, disproportionate, unjust, and not in line with the constitution of the party.

“The interim chairman has upturned the mandate of the interim committee set up in January by creating another local organising committee for himself and his group to take over and organise the congress on June 29, 2024, which is totally absurd.”

Last week, a letter from the Secretary of the Interim Committee, J. K. Adebola, alleged a breach by ensuring he and his group were not allowed to participate in the said congress. Adebola was quoted thus: “The lack of official communication led to the disclaimer notices issued by the interim secretariat. If there was any official communication regarding the congress, it must have been done discreetly or hidden from the interim secretariat for obvious reasons. 

“In view of the importance and enormity of a chapter consolidation congress, one would have expected an official letter with all congress details duly signed and sent from the APC headquarters (HQ) and copied to the chairman and secretary of the UK Interim Committee. If such a letter exists, none was sent to me." 

The crisis rocking the UK APC seems to be brewing and would require the efforts of the National Working Committee to wade in quickly to avert a breakdown.