Gombe Politics: Ex-Rep quits APC

A former member of the House of Representatives from Gombe State, Khamisu Mailantarki, has resigned his membership of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Mailantarki represented the Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency under the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011.

He won re election in 2015 under the APC but was removed by the Supreme Court, which declared Yaya Tongo as the authentic winner of the APC primary election for the constituency.

Mr Mailantarki was a board member of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).

He announced his resignation in a letter addressed to the APC chairman of his Herwagana Ward of Gombe Local Government Area, dated May 4, 2022.

“With gratitude to the Almighty Allah, I hereby wish to notify you of my decision to resign my membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“I thank you and the entire membership of the party for your support while my membership lasted,” he wrote.

Mr Mailantarki told PREMIUM TIMES that he left the governing party to protect his future political interest.

He said it was unfortunate that after doing so much for the APC after the merger of the defunct CPC and ACN, his efforts were not appreciated.

He said he committed personal funds to ensure that the then governing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was defeated in 2019.

“As the only member elected under the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), I personally funded the entire process of merger in Gombe State and I was the returning officer of President Buhari’s election in 2019 in the state.

“Even after the governorship primaries in the state, we supported President Buhari and Governor Inuwa Yahaya and made sure the APC won to an extent that we converted Gombe from a PDP to an APC state,” he said.

His resignation follows that of other leading members of the APC such as Jibrin Dan Barde and Isiyaku Gwamna, who have since joined the PDP.

Similarly, one of the aides of Governor Inuwa Yahaya, Dijatu Bappah, resigned her appointment and left the APC earlier in February.