Members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to Ambassador Aminu Wali in Kano State have dissociated themselves from the announced withdrawal of the party from the forthcoming local government polls in the state.
Daily Trust reports that the caretaker committee of the party in the state led by Dr. Danladi Abdulhameed on Tuesday announced the withdrawal of the party from the January 16 election, citing lack of trust in the process as its reason.
However, speaking with Daily Trust in a phone interview, a chairmanship candidate under the PDP for Dala LGA, Mustapha Mai Royal, said Abdulhameed “is the spokesman for the Kwankwasiyya Movement and not the spokesman for PDP in Kano. PDP leader is Ambassador Aminu Bashir Wali.
“We PDP in Kano, we are not a Kwankwasiyya organisation. We are ready to enter the January 16 election. I am talking to you for the sake of Aminu Wali. We spoke with him (Wali) a few hours after their press release and he directed me to go and tell all our members that we are ready to participate in the election.”
He said the Wali-led group of the party has 44 candidates for the 44 LGAs and they will be submitting all their documents to the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC), adding that they will abide by all rules and regulations of the electoral commission.
Similarly, the state government through the state commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, said “since the movement is not a political party and the PDP faction it belongs is not recognized by the national headquarters of the party, there is no way it can participate in any election.”
In a statement sent to our correspondent on Wednesday, Garba explained that “the tenure of the caretaker committee chairman of the unrecognized faction of the party, Danladi Abdulhameed who addressed the press conference announcing the purported withdrawal has expired a long time ago, which further indicates that it is just a farce.”
“We are not surprised at this claim by the beleaguered group which is in a legal battle with another faction of the party over its status and that the PDP headquarters by the provision of the constitution of the party only identify and recognize with the state Working Committee to take charge in the affairs of the party in such circumstances’’, the statement added.
I still have the mandate of PDP national headquarters – Danladi Abdulhameed
Reacting to both the Aminu Wali group and the Kano state government, Abdulhameed told Daily Trust in a phone interview on Wednesday that the caretaker committee remains the legitimate executive of the party in Kano. “I have my letter from the national secretariat”, he said.
“Secondly, the state government that is saying my tenure has elapsed, what business do they have with the PDP? Why are they trying to encroach into our internal affair? I also have the letter of the renewal of my appointment from the national secretariat,” he said, promising to send copies of the letters to our correspondent.
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