October 18, (THEWILL) – The All Progressives Congress (APC) has rescheduled the suspended state congress in Oyo state for this Saturday, October 23, 2021.
It also warned against what it described as a fake list of delegates being circulated on social media, saying only the national secretariat of the party is in possession of the authentic list.
In a statement by its caretaker chairman, Chief Akin Oke, the party warned members and other stakeholders “to be wary of the antics of some saboteurs and desperate politicians who have been found to be behind a fake delegate list in circulation ahead of the party’s state congress which has been rescheduled for this Saturday.”
The congress was slated for last Saturday but could not hold after a directive for its postponement came from the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) in Abuja.
In the statement, the party expressed its desire for “a hitch-free and successful Congress as against the wishes of some anti-democratic forces whose objective is to see the Progressive family in crisis ahead of the 2023 general election.”
It regretted the “situation that led to the postponement of the exercise last Saturday after some of our members expected at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium venue had arrived and started a carnival-like engagement among themselves.
“We are Indeed glad to inform members of the general public that there is no cause for alarm as the exercise will now come up this Saturday at the same venue.
“It is highly imperative for us to indicate that only delegates and officials are expected at the venue on Saturday as no unauthorized person or group of persons would be allowed entry into the stadium arena.
“The delegates are in two categories- ward chairman, ward secretary and three local government delegates elected during the local government congress held on July 31, 2021 as well as statutory delegates specified in the constitution of our great Party.
“To this end, we appeal to security agencies in the state to be on alert as we have it on good authority that the same set of state-sponsored hoodlums who wreaked havoc at a private facility where a faction of the PDP held its Congress last Saturday have been directed to visit our gathering this Wednesday and unleash terror on our leaders and members with a view to disrupting the Congress which they know would strengthen the opposition party to be able to dislodge Gov. Makinde from power in 2023.
“Finally, we would like to state with emphasis that the concorted local government executive members’ list being circulated on the social media platforms in the last 24 hours is fake and should be disregarded as only the national secretariat of our party has the list with them at the moment while they have assured that it would be made public through the right channel at the appropriate time.”
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