Sade Adewale
The All Progressives Congress, APC, Reconciliation Committee in Ondo State, chaired by Hon. Biyi Poroye, has warned party members against anti-party activities, stressing that loyalty to the party and its candidates is non-negotiable.
The committee said the warning was issued in the overriding interest of party discipline, institutional integrity and the collective interest of the APC in Ondo State.
In a statement signed by the secretary of the committee, Hon. Dele Olanubi, the committee said that the APC would neither condone nor tolerate any form of anti-party activity by any member, regardless of status or previous contributions to the party.
Describing APC membership as a commitment to loyalty, fidelity and allegiance to the party, the statement added that any member who abandoned the party to contest an elective position on the platform of another political party had severed ties with the APC.
The committee further warned that such individuals could no longer claim membership or any residual affiliation with the party.
As part of the ongoing reconciliation efforts across the state, the committee urged all genuine APC members to remain committed to the party’s ideals, principles and electoral
It cautionobjectives.ed members against attending clandestine meetings, consultations or engagements with individuals who contested and lost elections on other platforms or who had left the APC to contest against its candidates.
The committee stressed that any member found engaging in such activities would risk losing the privileges, recognition and entitlements associated with APC membership and could be blacklisted for working against the collective interest of the party.
The committee also rejected what it described as the practice of professing support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu while simultaneously undermining APC candidates at other levels.
It said, “There exists no moral or political justification for purporting to support the President while simultaneously undermining the party’s candidates at other levels,” describing such conduct as “anathema to progressive politics.”
The committee urged members to remain fully committed to the APC and desist from all forms of anti-party activity.
It also called on former members who had left the party to contest elections on rival platforms to stop claiming allegiance to President Tinubu while working against APC candidates.
The committee disclosed that it had, as part of its reconciliation mandate, held a constructive engagement with the governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
It revealed that Governor Aiyedatiwa maintained that he had never been involved in anti-party activities throughout his political career.
The committee quoted the governor as saying that he had remained loyal to one progressive political platform, from the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, which later metamorphosed into the APC.
He also reportedly declared that he would neither join nor support another political party nor lend his support to anyone who had left the APC to contest under a different platform.
The committee assured all APC members across Ondo State that outstanding issues would be addressed with urgency and fairness, adding that reconciliation efforts were continuing to unite the party ahead of next year’s general elections.
It, however, expressed concern over reports that some members had been attending meetings convened by individuals who had left the APC, describing such activities as a setback to its reconciliation efforts.
The committee said anti-party activity remained one of the gravest forms of indiscipline within the APC and could attract severe sanctions, including expulsion.
It therefore appealed to party members to remain committed to the APC and avoid actions capable of creating fresh divisions while the reconciliation process was ongoing.
It added, “The APC is greater than any individual ambition. Discipline, loyalty and fidelity to the party’s candidates remain the only acceptable path.”