TEXT OF A PRESS CONFERENCE DELIVERED BY DR. FREDERICK FASEHUN, NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF THE UNITY PARTY OF NIGERIA (UPN), IN LAGOS ON SEPTEMBER 24, 2014 Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press: Let me welcome you to this Press Conference. It is not our habit to spread our dirty linens in public. But necessity is laid upon us on this occasion because certain developments threatening cohesion have cropped up in our great party, the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). And those issues have to be addressed and straightened out. ILLEGAL UPN NEC MEETING On September 18 and 19, certain elements in the UPN got themselves together in Abuja, and held a meeting in clear violation of due process, the rule of law and the UPN constitution. And these unscrupulous elements misled a few innocent UPN national officers into approving several premeditated illegal decisions. While it was true that a meeting of the UPN National Executive Council (NEC) had been scheduled to hold on September 18 and 19, the event had to be cancelled because the National Treasurer reported we were unable to muster the needed logistics. Upon this, the National Chairman discussed this dilemma with the National Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Sokoto, and the Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Manzo, and they agreed it would be necessary to postpone the NEC Meeting. Upon this understanding, the Chairman directed the Deputy National Secretary (who was with him in Lagos) to liaise with the National Secretary in Abuja to circulate information on this latest development to all NEC members nationwide. The Deputy National Secretary had earlier been mandated by Alhaji Sokoto to circulate the notice of the meeting to delegates. Thus, it was in order for him to also circulate the postponement notice that had been discussed on phone in his presence among the three principal officers. In line with this understanding, the National Chairman wrote a letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to intimate the Agency with the information. However, in a strange twist, it later got to the knowledge of the party hierarchy that Alhaji Adedeji Salau (the National Publicity Secretary), decided to oppose the postponement. And he misled the National Secretary to send out fresh invitations to some select members in the Exco and get them attend a meeting in Abuja. As National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Salau should rather have handed the incoming funds to the relevant officers, such as the National Treasurer. Moreover, only the National Chairman can summon a NEC meeting and direct the National Secretary to prescribe the time and place. This is what it says in Section 4(2) of the UPN constitution: The Council (NEC) shall meet once every quarter at such time and place as may be prescribed by the National Secretary on the direction of the National Chairman of the Party. Against this backdrop, the purported NEC meeting held in Abuja on September 18 and 19 was malicious, divisive and unconstitutional. As a result, all resolutions arising therein are null, void and of no effect. THE MATTER OF UPN ACTING NATIONAL CHAIRMAN Some publications emerging from this illegal meeting have created the impression that UPN has an Acting National Chairman, Dr. Manzo Abubakar. It is not true. Dr. Manzo Abubakar is the UPN Deputy National Chairman to Dr. Fasehun. THE CHARADE OF OGUN UPN GOVERNORSHIP CANDIDATE We believe in the rules and regulations guiding elections in Nigeria as outlined by INEC; and we shall do nothing to flout those rules and regulations. The country’s electoral umpire has prescribed the pathway that aspirants must follow, through primaries, in order to emerge as party candidates. And UPN will not deviate from this path. Primaries to pick governorship candidates are usually the prerogative of party members or delegates in the respective state. Therefore, unlike the falsehood being peddled about in some publications, the National Executive Council (NEC) of UPN cannot, and has not, picked any Governorship Candidate for any state in the Federation, least of all Ogun State. What happened is that some people, in their penchant for indiscipline, prejudice, illegality and sycophancy, went overboard to anoint one aspirant as sole Candidate for Ogun State, an action rather strange to the spirit and letters of the UPN constitution. Both the beneficiary and the benefactor of this illegality are together living in a fool’s paradise. We in UPN have always said we shall not indulge in Selectocracy; and we shall not abandon that resolve. We are aware of the loyalty of some NEC members to this particular aspirant in Ogun State. But we must keep the records straight. For the avoidance of doubt, UPN cannot be bought for anyone’s personal aspiration. And let no political aspirant feel he can use such a charade to disrupt UPN. UPN CHAIRMAN FOR OGUN STATE IS OTUNBA SOLUADE Similarly, unnecessary controversy has been created about the party leadership in Ogun State. Suffice to say that the Chairman of the UPN in Ogun State is Otunba Patrick Olufemi Soluade, while the State Secretary is Prince Segun Otukoya. They built the party from scratch. When the party took root in Ogun State in 2013, Otunba Soluade was appointed Ogun State Protem Chairman. Not only does he have a great pedigree (his uncle Chief Sesan Soluade was Deputy Governor to Ogun State’s Governor Bisi Onabanjo under UPN in the Second Republic), Soluade has proved an asset, bringing the party much progress. A man of immense political experience, Soluade has the enviable track record of being former Deputy Governorship Candidate on the Progressive Peoples’ Alliance (PPA) ticket in 2007. He was appointed a Member of the Ogun State Hospitals Management Board in the administration of Otunba Gbenga Daniel, and thereafter became State Chairman of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), a party that came fourth in the 2011 governorship election. He enjoys the confidence of not just the party membership in Ogun State, but that of the UPN National Executive as well. This informed why he was issued a letter as Ogun State Chairman of UPN and his name filed with INEC in Abuja. Therefore, without unnecessary controversy, the bonafide, de-facto and de-jure Chairman and Secretary of Ogun State UPN are Otunba Patrick Olufemi Soluade and Prince Segun Otukoya respectively. ABOUT PRESIDENT JONATHAN’S ASPIRATION The UPN believes that every aspirant to any position in the land at whatever level of the polity should be contested on a level playing field. That is democracy. And democracy is what UPN stands for. We will not subscribe to the sale of the UPN to anyone who does not want to comply with the constitutional recommendations of the land. UPN has nothing against the President. We only hope and pray that his constitutional rights will be duly respected. If he is acceptable to majority of Nigerians, UPN will not swim against the current. However, we can assure everyone that UPN has not come together to take a decision on President Goodluck Jonathan or any presidential aspirant for 2015. Our doors are open to all Nigerians who qualify to contest the position of Presidency, including President Goodluck Jonathan. SUMMARY In sum, we want the public to observe the following: 1. UPN did not hold a NEC meeting in Abuja on 18th and 19th September 2014 2. A postponement of the UPN NEC meeting for this time became necessary because the National Treasurer informed the National Chairman that the party could not muster the resources to convene the NEC Meeting, and recommended it should be shifted 3. The meeting was postponed through the agreement of the National Chairman, the Deputy National Chairman, the National Secretary, the National Treasurer and the Deputy National Secretary 4. A message conveying this decision went out to all NEC members 48 hours before the original date 5. A letter informing INEC of the postponement was sent 24 hours before the original date 6. A good number of members stayed away from the Abuja meeting later convened by the Sokoto, Manzo and Salau 7. No one has been selected as UPN Governorship Candidate for Ogun State 8. When the time comes, UPN will release guidelines for party primaries nationwide 9. Candidates will emerge through due process democratically, as laid down by INEC and UPN rules guiding the selection of candidates, viz: Purchase of Nomination Forms, Payment of the Prescribed Fees, Endorsement of Nomination for Aspirants by Party Members, Screening of Aspirants and Voting by Delegates. CONCLUSION It is our belief that these unnecessary controversies are being engineered by agents of politicians and political parties, who feel threatened that UPN will upstage them in the South-West, the traditional stronghold of its original Founder, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and other parts of the country. But those adversaries of UPN shall be disgraced because our great party will succeed in its divine mission of providing meaningful life for Nigerians through the best models of democracy and good governance. Ladies and Gentlemen: Thanks for your attention.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 23:09:36 +0000
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