JUST IN: Protesters storm APC secretariat, demand girls chief’s resignation
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Scores of feminine protesters stormed the headquarters of the All Progressives Congress in Abuja on Friday to demand the resignation of the National Women Leader, Dr Mary Alile-Idele.
Alile-Idele was accused of negligence, pursuit of non-public pursuits, and alleged diversion of some elements of the 24,000 wrappers donated by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, and her delegation once they visited the celebration secretariat.
Singing solidarity songs and displaying a number of banners that learn, ‘Enough is Enough!’ ‘Mary Alile Resign Now’ and ‘APC Women Leader Must Go,’ the aggrieved girls appealed to the First Lady and the National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, to take away her for frequently undermining feminine members of the celebration.
Alile-Idele turned the substantive nationwide girls chief after her predecessor, Dr. Betta Edu, was appointed Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (now suspended) by President Bola Tinubu.
The agitation for her removing comes barely two weeks in the past when the First Lady, who was represented by Hajia Nana, the spouse of Vice President Kashim Shettima, offered bales of wrappers to Alile and her state girls leaders following their outcry the earlier week that they’d been deserted by the president regardless of their contribution to his election victory.
After the donation, Ganduje warned that the ladies leaders ought to distribute the materials judiciously.
But the protesters led by the Coordinator of ‘Concerned APC Women’, Rebecca Sheneni, informed journalists on Friday that it was as if the APC nationwide chairman had a premonition of what would occur, alleging that solely 9,000 of the 24,000 materials had been shared.
The North Central APC member additionally alleged that relatively than pursue a standard trigger for his or her profit, the nationwide girls chief has been junketing all around the nation selling the agenda of a pet challenge in her non-governmental organisation.
She stated, “We, the Concerned APC Women Group, an umbrella physique for all feminine members of the governing APC, deem it mandatory and crucial to demand the fast resignation of Mrs Mary Alile-Idele, the National Women Leader of our celebration.
“We are involved that since assuming workplace, Mrs Mary Alile-Idele has displayed incompetence in her position. She seems to be extra targeted on selling her Non-Governmental Organisation relatively than the celebration. This is clear in her latest travels to varied states to inaugurate her NGO’s executives, as an alternative of selling the agenda and manifesto of our celebration to Nigerian girls.
“Furthermore, Her Excellency the First Lady supplied her with over 24,000 wrappers to distribute to Women leaders and celebration members, however she solely distributed lower than 9,000. Where are the remaining? We surprise how a UK-based particular person with no political expertise and no report of membership in our celebration might be thought-about for this exalted place.
“She prioritises her personal interests over those of the APC, leading to the nomination of her husband for appointment as a member of the University of Port Harcourt Governing Council and various party assignments.
“Considering her numerous misdeeds and misconduct, we call for her immediate removal from the position of the APC. She has demonstrated a high level of incompetence and we have had enough.”
Efforts to get the APC nationwide girls chief to react to the allegations proved abortive.
As of the time of submitting this story, she has not picked up calls or responded to the SMS and WhatsApp messages despatched for clarification.
However, the ladies chief for Imo State, Mrs Patricia Okuebor-Benson, rose to her defence, saying the allegations weren’t true.
According to her, nearly all their members throughout the assorted states have obtained their materials.
She stated, “I’m simply listening to of this now as a result of no one informed me earlier than. As I converse, the 36 state girls leaders and the FCT are in Abuja having a gathering and no one has accused anyone of something.
“We don’t know the place these girls are getting their tales from. I consider each state has obtained its materials. I actually don’t know what they’re speaking about. I feel someone is sponsoring them.
When contacted, a former lawmaker and girls chief in Lagos, Jumoke Okoya-Thomas, declined remark, saying she wasn’t conscious of the event and couldn’t converse for any of her principals.
“As you can see, I am not in Abuja. I am in Lagos because there is a very important programme that I have to attend. So there is nothing I can say about it,” she pleaded.
