Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu has indicated that his mandate and those aspiring for positions under the party would not be snatched away from them under his watch
Dumebi who gave his full support to the ADC State Chairmen Forum for discontinuing the tenure extension of Chief Ralph Nwosu, spoke during a Press Briefing in Abuja on Saturday
He said “This morning several people sent me an unsigned statement purporting to have suspended me from the Party
While giving a background to what is happening he said the tenure of the immediate past national chairman Chief Ralph Okey Nwosu expired on the 28th of last month which was last week Sunday, prior to which he had 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, he 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 for consecutive period of maximum 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 Chapters 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 candidates just like the issue with the last Presidential candidate of the ADC, we have seen that in so many elections the Party had always traded its candidate for monetary gains.
“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.