The Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos State chapter, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, has come under attack for making disparaging comments about national officers of the party, prompting demand for a retraction of his comments or sanction by the leadership of the party.

This was contained in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja by the FCT Publicity Secretary of the party, Adaji Usman.

“I have been alerted to a statement by Mr. Joe Igbokwe, the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of our Party, the APC, in which he made several false claims about national officers of our Party,” he said.

According to Usman, Igbokwe had in the statement, which was in response to the release by the National Working Committee of the APC, annulling the purported expulsion of Muiz Banire, the party’s Legal Adviser, alleged that Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, was not validly elected and so could not speak for the party.

Usman said: “This allegation by Igbokwe is absurd and without basis, as Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi was validly elected in line with provisions of our party’s constitution on filling vacancies in the NWC.

“As the spokesperson of the APC in the FCT, which is in the North-Central zone, I participated fully in the North-Central Convention through which Mallam Abdullahi was elected as the substantive National Publicity Secretary of the APC.

“The election had delegates and key stakeholders from the zone, including four state governors, and was supervised by relevant bodies saddled with such responsibilities, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“Mr. Igbokwe has definitely stepped out of his bounds by issuing such a reckless statement attacking a highly-placed and reputable national officer of our party. He should retract this obnoxious statement or face disciplinary actions from the Party.”

Usman expressed surprise that Igbokwe who attended a workshop in Abuja organized by Abdullahi in his capacity as the National Publicity Secretary of the party will turn around to cast aspersion on him.

“If he had doubts about Abdullahi’s position in the party, on what basis then did he attend the conference in Abuja?” Usman queried, stressing that it was the same Abdullahi who stopped moves by some state publicity secretaries to remove Igbokwe as chairman of the forum of state publicity secretaries of the APC.

He said that Igbokwe’s penchant for insulting party leaders must stop, pointing out that “Our job as spokespersons for the state chapters of our great party requires temperance, moderation and decorous use of language - Qualities that Igbokwe obviously lack.”

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