“There is nothing in the APC constitution that says a member shall revalidate or renew its membership.”
Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the immediate past national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, has pointed out that the ongoing revalidation of the membership of the party called by the party’s Interim Caretaker Committee was contrary to the constitution of the party.
Oshiomhole who stated this on Tuesday during a chat with journalists shortly after revalidating his membership of the party at Unit 1, ward 10, Iyamho, Etsako West local government of Edo State said: “APC is governed by the constitution and not by man.”
His stance on the party’s revalidation of members’ registration aligned with Chief Bisi Akande’s position who had also faulted the constitutionality of the exercise.
“APC is governed by the constitution and not by man. The constitution only provides for registration and I registered as a member of the APC in 2014 under the Interim national chairman Chief Bisi Akande.
“There is nothing in the APC constitution that says a member shall revalidate or renew its membership. Once you registered when you joined the party and you have not defected, you are a member. So revalidation is strange to our constitution,”
“I have only done this because I want peace to reign; but in doing this, we have to be careful not to create constitutional breach,” Oshiomhole said.
Oshiomhole, also a former governor of Edo State, said that between 2015 and 2021, people had left the party and others had joined it, while some died, adding that it made sense to review the register.
He said, “If you ask me as a foundation member who has never decamped to revalidate his membership, it is double registration because there is nothing like revalidation in our constitution.
“By asking me to revalidate my membership means I was not a member when I have never leave the party, so I think the correct language should be either reviewing or updating because it makes sense to review voters register due to the new members that have joined or those that have exited.”
