Kenneth Afor
Adams Oshiomhole, the immediate past national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has said there is nothing like revalidation of membership registration in the party’s constitution.
Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo State, stated that asking members to revalidate their status can only occur when they decamp and they are returning to the party, adding that the ongoing revalidation exercise is strange to the party’s constitution.
He said this on Tuesday while responding to questions from journalists shortly after revalidating his membership of the party at Unit 1, ward 10, Iyamho, in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.
He said: “APC is governed by the constitution, 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 his membership. Once you register when you joined the party and you have not decamped, 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. So, when people talk about revalidation, we must begin to ask questions because people talk as if the party has no history.
“If you ask me as a foundation member who have 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 make sense to review voters register due to the new members that have joined or those that have exited.”
Oshiomhole insisted that his membership in the party never expired, noting that it can only expire when he decamps.
“So what this means now is that I have come here to do another registration but I insist that my registration never expired within the provision of the APC constitution.
“As for me, I think we should just move on, I am happy I just did it but I don’t need it because my membership has not expired and it can only expire when I decamped, and if I am returning then I can revalidate.
“History didn’t just begin today. If we don’t have a valid register, how did we conduct the congress in 2015 in which 16 million registered APC members voted to nominate President Muhammadu Buhari before the general election?
“I am a founding governor of APC, I am not a creation of APC, some of those who are rowdy here and there now came to join APC, but we formed the APC,” he said.
