The Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC) has confirmed Alhaji Chief Samuel Sam-Sumana’s eligibility to participate in the APC flagbearer election slated for next year, effectively resolving the former vice president’s long-standing dispute with the party over his membership status.
The commission stated that Sam-Sumana’s readmission to the party in 2020 did not require further endorsement from a national delegates conference (NDC). The PPRC explicitly invalidated a letter from the then APC secretary general, Ousman Foday Yansaneh, which had claimed such a requirement, saying the claim was “done in bad faith” and did not reflect the actual instructions of the National Advisory Committee (NAC).
According to the PPRC, an expanded meeting of the APC NAC held in Makeni on September 8, 2020, had “unanimously and unconditionally agreed” to readmit Sam-Sumana. Given that the NAC had “transformed itself into an NDC” due to the COVID-19 state of emergency prohibiting large gatherings, the commission noted that its decision was final.
Sam-Sumana’s membership with the APC ended following his expulsion from the party and removal from the vice presidency in 2015. He subsequently ran as the presidential candidate for the Coalition for Change (C4C) in the 2018 presidential election but rejoined the APC shortly after the electoral defeat.
