Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Dumebi Kachikwu, has reacted after he was suspended from the Party.
Kachikwu said his mandate was not negotiable and the same with the mandate of any aspiring candidate of the Party.
He stated this during a press briefing held today in Abuja.
Kachikwu said “This morning several people sent me an unsigned purporting to suspend me from the Party. To give a background, the tenure of the immediate past President expired on the 28th of last month which was last week Sunday. Prior to this, Chief Ralph Okey Nwosu has sought for tenure elongation. He had reached me directly and indirectly pleading for us to extend his tenure.
“For those who don’t know, Chief Ralph Nwosu is the longest serving Chairman of a Political Party in the history of Nigeria, he has been serving for the past 17 years. You must understand that this is contrary to the provision of constitution of the ADC which says that a Chairman of the ADC can hold position maximum for consecutive period of two terms of four years each.
“For some reasons best known to INEC, we don’t know how Chief Ralph Nwosu was able to hold on to that position for the past 17 years.
“When the Chairmen of the different State Chapter made known to me that his tenure was coming to an end and that Nwosu was seeking an illegal or back door extension and that they were not in support of it, I told them that as the presidential candidate of the Party I will do everything to uphold the constitution of the ADC.
“Beyond that, my Party has always had this dubious instincts as a Party that traded the mandate of its candidate. For instance, the issue with the last Presidential candidate of the ADC, we have seen that in so many elections the Party has held where the Party is always trading its candidate. He initially asked for a one year extension and now he is asking for six months extension thinking that since the election is in seven months and he is hoping that I will not emerge, then he will continue with his business.
“I have made a pledge to them that under my watch my mandate is not negotiable and the mandate of any aspiring candidate of this Party cannot be negotiated.”
The Presidential Candidate maintained that he will continue to deal decisively with the issues concerning the party
