All Progressives Congress (APC) Adamawa state congress, says all was now set for the Congress and that there was no court order stopping the exercise.
Katsayal stated this to newsmen amidst rumours on the court order, on Saturday, in Yola.
He said that all the seven committee members deployed to Adamawa were present at the venue, waiting for the INEC officials to make full representation.
According to him, the Congress was set according to the party guidelines of article 11A sub section 1-8, 16i of APC constitution
“The wards and Local Government Areas’ Congress was conducted successfully and today we are here to conduct for the state.
“The Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) appointed and deployed a seven-member committee to Adamawa.
“As you can see, the election materials are already here, no court injunction that stop us from this congress”, the chairman said, while assuring that they would fully comply with the provisions of the party’s constitution.
Also confirming the development, Ahmed Lawal, an aspirant for the Chairmanship position, said that they were ready for the election as he would not step down for anybody.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that more security personnel drawn from the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and FRSC, have been deployed to the venue, to ensure a hitch-free congress.
(NAN)
Author: Ephatha
Ahead of today’s State Congress for the Imo State All Progressives Congress, APC, the party has appeared to toe the line of electing its state Executives through a consensus arrangement.
The Saturday’s congress was confirmed by the Chairman Committee on Media and Publicity, Declan Emelumba, in Owerri, adding that the venue for the exercise will be the Ndubuisi Kanu Square in Owerri.
However, political analysts have been worried that contestants were not seen struggling for the various positions in the party and that in the absence of the display by contestants, the party may have concluded that the current Caretaker Committee, of the party in the State led by Marcillinus Nlemigbo, may be returned.
Even at the time of filing this report, sources told Vanguard that arrangements were still ongoing to make sure that party leaders were carried along in what they described as a consensus move.
Explaining further on the exercise, Emelumba said: “This is to inform all delegates that the state Congress of All Progressive Congress APC, holds in Owerri on Saturday, October 16, 2021
“All Delegates to the Congress are to be physically present at the venue on or before 8 am when accreditation will commence. The accreditation which will elapse by 10 am when actual voting will start will involve both statutory delegates and elected ones.
“All statutory delegates include serving and former national assembly members, former and serving members of the House of Assembly and others approved by the national body as delegates. It advised all those affected to ensure that they keep to the stipulated time while observing Covid 19 protocols.”
In order to re-orient boys and men on issues bordering on gender-based violence, a boy-child transformation movement, Boys Quarters Africa is collaborating with the Lagos Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency on the ‘Project Sabi Initiative’.
In a meeting during the week with the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency – Mrs Lola Vivour-Adeniyi, the founder of Boys Quarters Africa, Solomon Ayodele re-iterated the organisation’s plan to collaborate with the agency on the project.
Ayodele revealed that the project, which will run for eighteen months, is in partnership with Connected Development (CODE) and Oxfam-Voice and aims at educating boys from thirty schools in Lagos, Enugu and Abuja.
“Ignorance plays a major role when it comes to combatting gender-based violence, especially as it relates to men and boys. It is easy to fix men, but it’s easier to build boys. For men, it could be just sheer ignorance because some of these things have been passed down culturally by their parents. Some of the things we know about consent today were things we were never taught. We believe that if you don’t educate, you cannot criticize. That’s why we are paying a lot of attention to education.” he noted.
He also stated that the organization plans to run a training programme for the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to tackle gender-based violence across motor parks.
“There is a lot of assumption when it comes to gender-based violence as it relates to men and boys. We thought of creating grassroots mobilisation where we can sit men, boys down and educate them, more like an awareness project to take out that gender box where the world feels mean and boys know,” he said.
Ayodele also emphasised that men and boys are key players in the campaign against gender-based violence, thus the major point of collaboration with the agency is the creation of Boys Club, as well as utilizing the already existing templates of the agency in terms of curriculum development, data, mobilisation of facilitators among others.
On her part, Lola Vivour-Adeniyi commended the organization’s initiative and pledged her support to the project. She also highlighted the agency’s efforts towards tackling gender-based violence.
Her words: “The agency is doing a lot, especially collaborating with the Ministry of Justice, Education, WAPA, to ensure the sustainability of combating gender based violence and we are progressing. We are open to partnering in the areas of training, providing mentors for boys, inaugurating clubs in schools. All hands have to be on deck and the agency remains committed to instilling the right values.” she said.
The highlight of the meeting was the presentation of a SABI Tee Shirt to the agency’s Executive Director as an ambassador in mobilising men and boys towards ending violence against women and girls.