The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has clarified that there is no plan to dissolve the executive committee of the party at any level and warned people believed to be behind such rumour to desist.
This clarification came on the heels of a write-up circulated on social media on Tuesday in which the writer said that plans were underway to replace the current leadership of Oyo APC with a caretaker committee with its membership populated by those who left the party for Accord about 18 months ago.
In a statement on Wednesday in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, the Oyo APC appealed to party faithful and supporters to disregard “the content of the poorly scripted write-up which was only aimed at causing unnecessary panic among the teeming genuine party members.”
The party said as serious-minded progressives, it could only laugh at the “folly” of those behind the write-up while “we also sympathise with the sponsors who have again shown their penchant for doing the same thing in the same way and expecting different results.”
The statement reads in part: “To set the record straight, the latest futile effort was designed to whittle down the effects of the disappointment which the unscrupulous group met last Thursday at the court where a case instituted before a Federal High Court in Ibadan with a view to getting a verdict to dissolve Oyo APC executive committees was struck out for lack of merit.
“It is time we emphasised again that the current executive committee of Oyo APC is a product of a legitimate congress which was done the same time as those of other 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Inasmuch as there is no case of misconduct or breach of party constitution by the whole of the state exco or any other at any level, the cry of dissolution by the disgruntled elements anywhere would remain a mere wishful thinking.
“In the last general election, we did not only win the state for President Bola Tinubu, we produced three senators, nine House of Representatives members and four House of Assembly members. So, we challenge those labouring to hijack the party to provide their results to drive their immoral cause.
“It is on this premise that we are calling on the teeming population of genuine party members and supporters of the APC across the state to disregard any unfounded rumour relating to exco dissolution while we are also assuring those who left the party at one time or the other but are now genuinely willing to return that our doors are widely open.
“Our main focus now is on the forthcoming local government election in which we are fielding candidates to win the 33 chairmanship and 351 councillorship seats across the state. We say no to distraction as we ask selfish and desperate groups and individuals to keep away.”