An aspirant for the position of APC North Central Zonal Youth Leader in the forthcoming convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Austin Terver Aginde is 46 year old. According to documents obtained by this medium, Aginde who hails from Benue State was born on the 19th September, 1972.
The APC Convention Guideline stipulates that all aspirants for a youth position in the party must be between the ages of 18- 40 years old. However, in a clear violation of the guideline, Aginde has since filled and submitted his nomination form to participate in the Convention as a candidate for the position of Zonal Youth Leader.
In what appears like having a strong godfather within the party leadership hierarchy, all efforts to petition the Screening Appeal Committee of the Party has been thwarted. A petitioner who crave anonymity told this medium that he spent a whole day at the Secretariat of the Committee located inside the Imo State Governor’s lodge on Jose Martins street, Asokoro area of Abuja without a single member of the committee as much as given him even a minute attention.
It should be noted that some of the APC Screening Committee members have been involved in some underhand dealings in the processes leading to the party’s convention. There was a reported case of some of the members of the Committee collecting money from aspirants for late submission of forms. The obvious indifference by the Screening Appeal Committee to the petition against Mr. Aginde is therefore leading many to the conclusion that money must have exchanged hands.
If Mr. Aginde is allowed to stand as a candidate in the convention without sorting out the issues surrounding his age, then APC may yet again proof itself as a lawless party that violates its own rules.
