IT was a show of shame yesterday at the Gombe Jewels Hotel, Abuja, venue of a meeting of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) when chairmen ofsome registered political parties in the country engaged themselves in a free-for-all over an alleged N20m Ramadan gift from the Presidency.Trouble started when the conveners of the meeting, led by IPAC Secretary, Mohammed Shittu, decided to block the group led by the chairman, Emma Okereke, from entering the hall, claiming that they were not invited.After being overwhelmed by the Okereke group, the conveners decided to abandon the venue of the meeting, only to convene in one of the hotel rooms rented by one of their group members, where they eventually held a closed-door meeting.Briefing the press on the incident, Chairman of IPAC Advisory Committee, Chuddy Chukwuani, accused the group led by Shittu of conniving with a group of people at the Presidency to collect N20m as a Ramadan gift with the intent to form a parallel IPAC, adding that they were very surprised to see the Okereke-led group at the venue of their meeting.Chukwuani, who noted that the secretary of IPAC had no constitutional right to convene a meeting of the council without the consent of the chairman, charged members of the council to ensure that the secretary did not succeed in his plans with the alleged Ramadan gift, which he noted, was a plot to destabilise IPAC.'We have a situation where some disgruntled elements as members of IPAC will go and connive with some groups at the Presidency to collect a substantial amount of money on behalf of registered Nigerian political parties in order to create a parallel IPAC. This was the information we got yesterday and we decided to storm the venue of their meeting today and find out for ourselves what the position was.'We were all present when INEC threatened to de-register non-performing political parties. These people were all helpless until IPAC decided to come to their aid by challenging the INEC decision at the law court. Based on our findings, we have taken the decision that the secretary of IPAC, Mohammed Shittu, does not have the constitutional right to convene a meeting on behalf of the council, without consulting with the chairman.'It is obvious that his decision to call for the meeting was in line with their plans to secretly share the N20m gift from the Presidency and at the same time, form a parallel IPAC, which is a gross misconduct by the secretary. Based on that, we have fully consulted and agreed that Mohammed Shittu be suspended and he ceases to function as IPAC secretary with immediate effect. Also, he must make available to IPAC executive, the money which he allegedly collected from the Presidency on behalf of all the political parties,' Chukwuani stated.However, in an interview with the media, Shittu denied collecting any money from the Presidency as alleged by the Okereke group. He added that the meeting, which he convened, was not in the name of IPAC. He also noted that the meeting was called by concerned political parties to deliberate on the state of the nation.Shittu maintained that the executive body of IPAC had ceased to exist since March 30 when its tenure expired.
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