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Gombe APC crisis festers

By Auwal Ahmad, Gombe
14 July 2015   |   12:11 am
ALL is certainly not well with the Gombe State branch of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the cold war between two factions of the party has degenerated to a level where each of the opposing factions has suspended one another from the party.

 

Nafada

Nafada

Goje

Goje

ALL is certainly not well with the Gombe State branch of the All Progressive Congress

(APC) as the cold war between two factions of the party has degenerated to a level where each of the opposing factions has suspended one another from the party.

The feud between the two camps, one led by former governor, Senator Muhammad Goje and Senator Usman Bayaro Nafada, has polarised the party in such a way that a political analyst, Muhammad Umar Gombe, said would not augur well for the party’s governorship candidate, Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya in his quest to challenge the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last polls.

According to Gombe, “This rivalry, many believe has been in existence since the founding of the APC where legacy members of the party were not comfortable with the newcomers whom they claimed had come to take their place. And it has also been gathered that the lack of trust between Goje and Bayaro and others stakeholders.”

Penultimate Monday, party secretary, Alhaji Manu Salau Pindiga announced the suspension of the State Chairman, Barrister Muhammed Mgaji Doho and 17 others from the party over allegations of anti-party activities, gross misconduct and incompetence.

The secretary who read the resolution of the suspension signed by the 32 State Executive Council members and 7 local government chairmen of the party in line with the recommendations of a seven-man committee set up by the Party to investigate allegations of anti-party activities during the last gubernatorial election in the state.

Briefing the newsmen at the State secretariat of the party, Pindiga said that Daho and the 17 others and their sponsors who lost at the party primaries had vowed to ensure that the party and its gubernatorial candidate were defeated in the general election even if through foul means.

He added that, “this they did also because of a promise for handsome reward which include handing over the governorship to one of the over ambitious even if unelectable stakeholders come 2019 election”.

Pindiga said that Barrister Daho and the others were queried in a letter dated Saturday 16th May 2015 and given 72 hours within to reply, but none of them reply the letter adding “this indeed in itself is a gross misconduct that calls for serious disciplinary action.”

Those that were suspended with the Chairman are state Legal Adviser, Zonal Vice-Chairman North, Assistant Treasurer, Assistant Organizing Sectary, State Youth leader, Zonal Youth Leader North, Zonal Youth Leader South, State PRO, Women Leader, Assistant Auditor,  Chairmen of Billiri, Kaltungo, Nafada, Kwami, Dukku local councils branches of the party and two ex-officio.

The suspension statement further stated that “In respect to the sponsors of the erring state exco-members referred to above, the committee decided to forward similar letter to them to showcase why disciplinary measures should not be taken against them. These are Senator Usman Bayaro Nafada, Hon Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Malam Murtala Aliyu former Minister of Power and Steel and Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu  the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) gubernatorial candidate in the 2011 election.”

An acting Chairman, in the person of Karu Ishaya, was appointed by the SEC as “nature abhors a vacuum” but two hours after the announcement of his suspension, Daho called a press coference where he dismissed Senator Goje and eleven others for disrespecting the party constitution and gross misconduct.

Speaking at the press conference held at the Gombe local government secretariat, Daho alleged that Goje has mismanaged the party’s campaign and election funds and had equally destabilized the party which are the factors that led to the party losing the governorship election in the state.

He added that Goje has moved his anti-party activities up by flouting party directives and rebelled against the party to connive with the PDP Senators in an action that has led to the emergence of a Senate President Senator Bukola Saraki against the interest of the APC leadership and Ike Ekweremadu, a PDP Senator as his Deputy.

The APC crisis is coming at the time that the party is challenging the victory of PDP and Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, the incumbent governor, at the tribunal leading some political analysts to view the crisis as allegedly being engineered by the opposition to destroy the court case and deny the APC and its candidate the chances of winning the seat through the tribunal.

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