Ahead of the postponed congress of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a coalition of groups within the Oyo State APC have dismissed a statutory delegates list in circulation.
The groups, including the Unity Forum, the ZLP, the Adebayo Adelabu group and others, dissociated themselves from the list, describing it as fake.
The groups alleged that the statutory delegates list is against the directive of the APC National Secretariat on the congress.
In a statement signed by Senator Ayoade Adeseun, Chief Sharafadeen Alli, and Chief Olayemi Ariba on behalf of the Unity Forum, the ZLP and the Adelabu groups, the three groups noted that the list, which featured names of some members of the groups, is fake and is designed to confuse the members of the party and the public ahead of the Oyo APC state congress.
The statement noted that the APC National Secretariat has stated clearly that the congress would be by consensus “because of the unresolved disputes on the delegates lists arising from the ward and local government congresses in the state.
“The national secretariat of the party was clear last week when it met stakeholders from the state and even this week when it met the Minister of Youths and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare, that the congress would be by consensus.
“It is important to recall that stakeholders, a few weeks back, had resolved that the election of party executives would be elected by consensus.
“The party mandated its seven zonal leaders to consult with the former governor of the state, the two surviving former deputy governors, and party chairman to zone offices to the seven administrative zones of the state.
“The zones were mandated to fill the positions and submit their elected officials to the state party executive. The congress is to ratify the list from the zones by an affirmation.
“As responsible party members, we stand by the directives of the party. The purported list is designed to confuse party members and members of the public about the congress.”