By Barely five months to the 2023 elections, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has suspended its presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu.
The party’s Deputy National Chairman (Politics), Dr. Bamidele Ajadi, confirmed the development in a statement on Saturday.
Ajadi disclosed that the decision to suspend Kachikwu was taken after an emergency National Working Committee (NWC) meeting held at an undisclosed location on Friday.
The ADC had accused its embattled flagbearer of making “defamatory” statements in a video, an action that contravenes the values of the party as well as alleged anti-party activities.
“The NWC viewed with great concern the baseless and defamatory video made, published and circulated by Mr. Dumebi Kachikwu, which was intended to disparage and impugn the integrity and image of a peaceful and transformation-oriented African Democratic Congress and its national officers,” the statement read in part.
The party also observed that Kachikwu’s speech in the said video contravened the principles and values upon which ADC was founded and the specific provision of Article 16 of the ADC constitution.
Ajadi said, “Act(s) conduct or utterances likely to bring the party into hatred, contempt or ridicule; engaging in dishonest practices, defrauding the party, its members or officials; engaging in anti-party activities; unauthorized publicity of Party dispute or fractionalization or creating parallel Party organ(s) at any level; engaging in any other activities likely to cause disaffection among Party members or likely to disrupt the peaceful, lawful and efficient conduct of party business; belonging to any such factional group or organ; collusion or conspiracy to convene unauthorized meetings, shall constitute acts of gross misconduct.”
The statement added that since Kachikwu’s emergence as the ADC presidential candidate on June 9, he has refused to share with the party any meaningful, constructive or reasonable presidential campaign roadmap for the 2023 polls.
“His negative actions and/or inactions so far, have put in jeopardy the fate and prospects of all our candidates contesting for various offices across the country. The committee of the whole house, in a very clear and unequivocal term, condemned the said video in its entirety and described it as a piece of badly crafted blackmail and mudslinging, and thereby unanimously recommended his immediate suspension from the party from today, Friday 2nd September 2022.
“This resolution would be forwarded to the National Executive Council for further actions,” it concluded.
