Emerhor-led Reconciliation Committee: Expanded State Caucus, Alien To APC Constitution, Ukusare Tells Sobotie

By Daniel Dafe

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Delta State, Michael E. Ukusare, Esq, has strongly advised and warned that the State Executive Council, SEC, of the party in the state needs to urgently meet to constitute the
Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, CON, “much-needed” Reconciliation and Peace Committee lawfully, saying failure to do this may result in its outcome “being trashed in either an administrative or judicial bin.”

Ukusare said this in a letter dated Saturday, 4th May, 2024, addressed to Elder Omeni Sobotie, Chairman of the party in the state.

According to him, Sobotie “clearly, absolutely and corruptly abused the powers” of his office under the party’s constitution and “acted in gross violation of same” when he “unilaterally called and chaired an illegitimate so-called ‘Expanded State Caucus’ meeting of the party in Asaba on the 22nd day of April, 2024.”

Adding: “This is a serious breach of the party’s constitution but one is not inclined to focus on this breach.”

He said: “There is nothing like an ‘Expanded State Caucus’ in the entirety of the APC’s Constitution and nobody can contest this naked factual reality. The appellation ‘Expanded State Caucus’ is alien to the APC Constitution and its operation. Article 11, paragraph B(ii) of the APC Constitution clearly provides for a State Caucus, as an organ of the party, not a ‘Expanded State Caucus’.”

The politician said that he has “tremendous respect for all leaders who attended or participated in that meeting, but the constitution defines the limit of our respect for people and processes.”

“Nobody, including you Sir, has the arbitrary power and authority to unilaterally expand the party’s constitution. Doing so is a breach of the constitution itself for which appropriate sanctions ought to easily apply or a legal challenge ought to be initiated by stakeholders following due process, but these are not of interest to peace lovers like me, at least for now. The focus is strictly on abiding obedience to the constitution.

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He recalled how media reports stated that he (Sobotie) presided over the meeting of a “so-called ‘Expanded State Caucus’ of the APC in Delta State that appointed Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, CON as the Chairman of a Reconciliation Committee to lead efforts for peace in the party.

The letter read further: “Sir, maybe to avoid dictatorship, our party’s constitution unequivocally delineates the composition of the State Caucus in Article 12, paragraph 10, leaving no room for ambiguity or whimsical, subjective interpretations. The only appointments to the State Caucus allowed under Article 12.10 of the party is the inclusion of two (2) women per Senatorial District (a total of 6 women) and this must be done collective by the State Executive Committee (SEC), not one individual like you did. No SEC meeting was held before the so-called Expanded State Caucus meeting to co-opt the 6 women into the State Caucus, and this says much on this point.

“Sir, clearly, to the extent that your so-called ‘Expanded State Caucus’ meeting of April 22, 2024 at Asaba was actually attended by persons who are not recognized by the constitution as ‘State Caucus’ members, you blatantly violated the party’s constitution and same ought to be urgently corrected by the State Executive Committee (SEC).”

He said that as a bonafide member, stakeholder and leader of the APC in Uvwie Local Government Area, he has regularly played significant roles to protect the interests of the party, including pro bono court appearances as its legal counsel.

In his words: “I do these because I have faith in the fundamentals of our party’s progressive ideology.”

His letter adds that his last successful court outing for the party at the instance of the Deputy President of the 9th Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, CFR is the only reason why the present State, Local Government and Ward Executives of the party in Delta State are still in office today.

“This was in the case of Iyekekpolor Goodluck & 9 Ors v. APC, Elder Omeni Sobotie & 13 Ors (Suit No. A/78/2023) where judgment was delivered in favour of APC on 8th day of February, 2024 by the Delta State High Court. I am therefore in a vantage position to speak to protect our common interest, especially from a legal standpoint,” he said.

Furthermore, he said: “Mr. Chairman, I speak objectively of “major successes” in the sense that this is the first time since 1999 that an opposition party was able to easily clinch two (2) senatorial seats in Delta State. Our party also won eight (8) seats in both the House of Representatives and the Delta State House of Representatives combined.

“Although we were regrettably denied a clear victory in the 2023 Delta State Governorship Election, a match of the lawful votes cast at the election with the spirit and letters of the new national electoral reforms has led to a reasoned consensus by a great many that the election was clearly won by our leader, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. This denial notwithstanding, the final electoral outcomes, as adjudged by the judiciary as our final electoral arbiter, attest to the incontestable fact that the APC made its strongest electoral impact in Delta State in 2023.

“Going by this, it is undoubtedly well-advised to take proper steps to build on our 2023 successes rather than allow anyone within the party to rubbish our gains and make it difficult to make even better gains in the future. Like all responsible leaders of the APC, I am therefore wholly aligned with any lawful effort to give the party greater traction to succeed, starting with genuine reconciliation and cementing of all possible cracks within its ranks, where there are any.”

Meanwhile, he opined that Emerhor “is unquestionably eminently qualified to help the party to make more progress, peacefully.”

“However, that onerous duty is circumscribed and guided wholly by the Constitution of the party. Any effort supposedly taken by the party outside its constitution is ab initio a nullity because, as we say in law, nobody builds anything on nothing and expects it to stand.

“Sir, I wish that Olorogun O’tega succeeds as a peacebuilder, but he can only do so if a fundamental error committed solely by you as the State Chairman in calling for and chairing the meeting of body not recognised by the constitution of the party is immediately rectified by the State Executive Committee that is imbued with the power to do so, otherwise we are heading to a dead constitutional end,” he said.

Ukusare declared that his “sole interest is the success of Olorogun Emerhor’s peace-building efforts as a respected leader of the Party, subject to the party’s constitution and the law.”