…Party chairman describes suspension as Africa magic, handiwork of Kano Gov
…Ododo submits Ondo State primary report to APC NWC
From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
State and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chairmen of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have thrown their weight behind the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, dismissing his purported suspension by his Kano ward.
The chairmen pledged their loyalties when they paid him courtesy visit at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
The former Kano State governor in his response, described the purported suspension as a Nollywood movie channel, Africa Magic plotted and executed by the incumbent Kano State governor, Abba Yusuf, just as he admitted that he was astonished with the incident.
Earlier, acting chairman of the Forum of APC State Chairmen and Lagos State Chairman, Cornelius Ojelabi, announced that they were at the secretariat to affirm their confidence in the party’s boss.
According him; “We are here to let you know that you are the captain of the ship. We are here to let you know that these are also your foot soldiers in the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and FCT.”
“We are here to show our solidarity and sincere commitment to appreciate what members of the NWC has been doing in standing by you by giving you total support. We feel it is important that the act of that solidarity should not be left to the NWC alone.
“Today, we bring the solidarity of the 36 states and the FCT to tell the public that we are solidly behind you. You have started a journey of growing our party, restructuring it, growing it and we are pretty sure that you are in course.
“You keep briefing us on the steps you are taking. For any person or group who are not even in our party to think they can come and derail us, it won’t work,” the leader of the delegation noted.
Responding, Ganduje accused the Kano State governor, Abba Yusuf, of sponsoring impostors to orchestrate his recent suspension, describing the governor’s action as dramatic only fit for the Nollywood movie channel, Africa Magic.
He declared that the leadership of the party remained focused in spite of the needless distractions, notingthat; “We were so astonished when we heard the news but we were not surprised when we discovered that the great threat that APC overwhelmingly poses to other parties is real and Kano State is not an exception.
“The government in Kano State is behind this drama. Even the drama is one kind of drama that is called Africa Magic. This is Africa Magic and it is not leading democracy anywhere. It is a negative innovation where members who belong to a different political party, not even our members, let alone being elected executive members of either the ward or to the highest level at the state, meeting themselves and taking resolutions that affect the nation as far as our party is concerned, that is not acceptable.
“Our party cannot be distracted, we assure you. Our attention cannot be diverted. We are focused. We know where we are heading to. We know our objectives and we know to achieve our objectives,” Ganduje noted.
Meanwhile, Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo, submitted the report of last weekend’s Ondo State governorship primary election he served as chairman of the committee.
In his presentation, Governor Ododo had thanked the APC national leadership for finding him and his committee members to serve in the all important national assignment.
He disclosed that the committee’s report took cognisance of everything that transpired during the primary election, adding that it contained recommendations that will enable the party to deal with the aftermath of the Ondo State primary election and ensure that the party goes into the November governorship election as a united party ready to retain power in Ondo State.
The Kogi Governor was accompanied during the presentation of the report by the Secretary to the Committee, Senator Oview Omo-Agege, Kogi State APC Chairman, Abdullahi Bello, House of Representative member representing Ajaokuta Federal Constituency, Abdulrahim Egidi and the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Deedat Ozigi Salami, and some of his senior aides.
Receiving the committee’s report from Governor Ododo, Ganduje congratulated them for a job well done, noting that the party is proud of the performance of the committee for the conduct of the primary election.
The APC national chairman praised the impeccable conduct and extraordinary leadership skill of the State Governor for the manner he managed the primary election, adding that the collation of results from the 203 wards and the 18 Local Government Areas of the state, viewed live on national television was a rare display of transparency and integrity of the entire election process.
