A former legal adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muiz Banire, SAN, has suggested that the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, and National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore might have been forced rather than voluntary.
Banire while fielding questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday hours after Senator Abubakar Kyari emerged as the new APC National Chairman and announced Adamu and Omisore’s resignation as national officers of the party stated, “I have been reading Mr. Lukman Saliu for some time; he has been raising a lot of issues, particularly bordering on maladministration of the party, misappropriation of funds, and so on.
“Well, that could be part of it because I know as a matter of fact, in NWC sometimes those are usually issues that usually confront or challenges the body.”
“So, it’s not unlikely that it is as a result of such issues that have been in the public space for some time now; maybe it has reached its peak now and couldn’t be absorbed again. They probably reacted.”
“I’m not too sure that the resignation could have been voluntary, in my view, I might be wrong; I probably believe that maybe the pressure of other colleagues of theirs forced them eventually to tender their resignation,” Banire said.
Banire who served as commissioner in Lagos State when President Tinubu was governor described the two chieftain’s resignation as an unusual situation absolved the president of anything to do with the party’s leadership crisis
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")