The senior special assistant on Public Enlightenment to the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, Chief Oliver Okpala, has called on security agencies to immediately arrest the chairman of the North-Central APC Forum (NCAF), Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, for running an illegal organisation.
Okpala, who stated this while faulting Zazzaga’s demand for APC national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje to vacate the office in seven days, said a court had declared that “his group is not known to law” and that he is running an illegal entity.
Zazzaga at a news conference in Jos gave Ganduje, who hails from Kano State in the North West, a seven-day ultimatum to resign so that a chairman from the North Central zone can occupy the seat as originally designed by the party.
But in a statement, Okpala slammed Zazzaga, saying he has no locus standi to comment on issues pertaining to APC leadership, adding that his activities should no longer be condoned.
Okpala said a court had held that Zazzaga was operating an illegal entity he called North-Central APC Forum which was not known to law.
He therefore called on security agencies to quickly arrest and prosecute Zazzaga for running an illegal group. Okpala said, “Zazzaga has been an unrepentant political loose cannon without respect for the rule of law and has no regard for the judgment of the courts. “His continuous vituperations after the case he filed against the national chairman of APC, Dr Ganduje failed, showing that he has no regard or respect for the court.
“If he has any atom of wisdom or intelligence, he should go back and study the grounds upon which his case was thrown out and understand that the High Court judgement was in tandem with the position of the Supreme Court on the same case.
“If his latest outburst is not a result of mental issues borne out of frustration, then the security agencies should quickly arrest and interrogate him for running an illegal organization.
“It is high time members of the APC in the North Central called him to order for the embarrassment and a nuisance he has become to the zone.
“It is also not out of place for the National Working Committee of the party to take steps to bring Zazzaga to book for the subversive actions he has been taking against the party.
“The media is replete with various publications against the leadership of the party and even the Presidency.
“Zazzaga should be seriously sanctioned to serve as a deterrent to others who may want to toe the same rudderless and reckless path.
“Zazzaga has been working for the opposition while claiming to be a member of the APC. This is unacceptable. The APC believes in the rule of law and upholds party discipline as a way of ensuring peace, unity and decorum.
“Therefore, the party should not continue to condone Zazzaga’s anti-party activities. He should be shown the way out.
“This is a man who filed a case in court and has been leading an illegal organisation as declared by the court. The Federal High Court had held that his so-called group was unknown to law.
“Despite this, the political misfit is still engaging in subversive activities against the party and making dangerous statements against the judiciary. Such a character should not be tolerated by the party.
“Giving the National Chairman of the party a 7-day ultimatum to resign is not only an act of gross indiscipline but an anti-party activity which should carry heavy sanctions. This is the same man the court had told in the case he filed against the National Chairman, to explore and respect the internal conflict resolution mechanisms of the party.
“The Supreme Court had ruled in a judgement that the judiciary should not be dragged into the internal affairs of the political party, so for him to continue on this path shows he is a misfit and bent on political self-destruction.
“So we call on the security agencies to immediately arrest Zazzaga for running an illegal organisation. The court said his group is not known to law and since that judgement of the court subsists, he and his misguided co-travellers are running illegal entities.
“Let me remind him that the court had ruled that his grouse was an internal matter of the party and maintained that political parties have internal mechanisms to resolve such differences. Thus, the court threw out his case. If he is frustrated then he should leave the party for people of decorum and progressive mindsets” Chief Okpala concluded.
