The 2023 presidential flagbrearer aspiration of the former Vice President, Chief Alhaji Samuel Sam-Sumana is in jeopardy, as his application to rejoin the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) is yet to be clarified, ahead of the forthcoming National Delegates’ Convention slated for 17th-19th September this year.

The former VP, who was a strong member of the APC, resigned his membership from the party in 2015. In 2017, prior to the 2018 parliamentary and presidential elections, he founded the Coalition for Change (C4C) Party from which he resigned in 2019 to seek readmission into APC.

According to article (16) of the new draft APC Constitution “for a member to be eligible to be voted for as presidential candidate, that member must have been a registered paid up member of the party for a continuous period of not less than five years”.

However, it is not yet known whether the new constitution will be retroactive on the membership of the former Vice President.

In a snap interview with The Exclusive, the APC Acting National Publicity Secretary, Sidi Yayah Tunis said the issue of Sam-Sumana’s membership is not on the agenda for the forthcoming National Delegates’ Convention (NDC) to adopt the draft new Constitution for the party, stressing that solving membership issues is not part of the variation orders that was issued out by the High Court presided by Justice Adrian Fisher.

According to Sidi Yayah Tunis, the party is yet to reach that stage, despite lots of concern coming from the fans and supporters of the former Vice President. The APC mouthpiece furthered that for this upcoming NDC, the court gave specific orders, which is the adoption of the new Constitution and nothing else. He added that the party is currently under injunction that was slammed by the Court, which prevents them from carrying out other activities.

The Publicity Secretary called on supporters of the former VP to restrain themselves until the new constitution is adopted, following which they will continue with all other membership issues in their next convention. Sidi Yayah Tunis also noted that the party has instructed lawyers to communicate the court orders to their clients, so that members of the party will not be confused on the details of the latest court rulings.

Meanwhile, the APC mouthpiece has also disclosed that the current hierarchy of the party has addressed all the concerns raised by the Big Six flagbrearer aspirants’ movement, following a letter written by them.

He maintained that their current focus is on how the party will successfully hold the forthcoming NDC and also bring all aggrieved parties onboard.