Kaduna APC committee, senators disagree over ward congresses

The Chairman All Progressives Congress (APC) Wards and Local Governments Congresses Committee for Kaduna State, Adamu Modibbo, said on Monday that the committee was satisfied with the conduct of the ward congresses in spite of protests against the exercise.

Mr Modibbo told journalists in Kaduna that the exercise was conducted “peacefully in well organised manner without any incident recorded throughout the state.”

According to him, there was large turnout of party members for the congress and he was impressed with the orderliness they displayed during the event.

NAN however reports that two senators, Shehu Sani (APC Kaduna Central) and Suleiman Hunkuyi (APC Kaduna North) had separately told journalists that the congresses did not hold in any part of the state.

Mr Modibbo insisted that the congresses held in accordance with the party’s guidelines.

“We met with the APC stakeholders at the party secretariat after which we constituted three member congress committees for all the wards and gave them all the needed materials for the exercise, promptly.

“Some aspirants, including their leaders requested for forms from us and once they met the stipulated conditions, showing evidence of payment, we gave them the forms.

“Those were few of the measures we took and to the glory of Allah; the preparedness of the party leaderships at all levels in the state, the exercise is a huge success. We are highly satisfied,” Mr Modibbo said.

Meanwhile, Mr Hunkuyi said at a news briefing that the elective congress did not hold in any of the 255 wards in the state as stipulated by the APC constitution.

“Our members had by the provision of the guidelines and the APC Constitution paid the required fees for the nomination forms into the APC accounts and collected tellers for the 9,453 positions to be contested in 255 Wards across the 23 LGs involving 37 different positions in each of the Wards across the State.

“The APC State Congress Committee in a very frustrating outing gave our members the Nomination Forms for only Two Local Governments out of 23 LGs around 3:55 a.m. and that was at the wee hours of the Congress date of 5th May, 2018.

“It must be noted that even those who collected the forms were already programmed for disqualification as the guidelines for the conduct of the congresses, stipulates that all aspirants must return the forms 24 hours before the date of the congresses.

“Thus given the scenario above, our members were left with no other option than to troop to the venue of the Ward Congress by 8: 00 a.m. of the same morning carrying the bank tellers and APC membership Cards in order to participate at the Congress.

“However, to our utmost surprise, no official of the APC-Ward Congress Committee showed up in any of the 255 Wards Areas from 8:00 a.m., neither in the morning nor throughout the day.

“This is in contravention of the guidelines and directives of President Muhammadu Buhari that urges for conduct of elective Congresses in conformity with provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, the Electoral Act and the APC Constitution.”

He, however, said that they would lodge a formal complaint to the APC Congress Committee, the party’s National Working Committee and other relevant organs of the party.