Aggrieved aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who stepped down at last Saturday’s national convention have threatened to sue the party if they are not refunded the money they paid for expression of interest and nomination forms.
President Muhammadu Buhari had anointed a former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, for the office of APC national chairman and asked other contestants for the position to concede.
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The president also directed the party’s top echelon to refund monies spent by aspirants on the expression of interest and nomination forms including those contesting other positions who were affected by the consensus arrangement.
Sequel to this, many aspirants withdrew from the race. The chairmanship aspirants made their withdrawal known in a letter dated March 25, 2022 and obtained by Daily Trust.
The letter was addressed to the chairman, APC Election Sub-Committee and signed by the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume.
The chairmanship aspirants who stepped down for Adamu are a former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Tanko Al-Makura; Minister of Special Duties, Senator George Akume; a former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari; senator representing Niger East, Mohammed Sani Musa; a former deputy national chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Saliu Mustapha and Saidu Etsu.
The aspirants for other offices also stepped down to create room for consensus, but those who stepped down on the convention ground said their monies were yet to be refunded.
One of them said, “If our monies are not refunded then we will have no other option than to seek redress in court.
“The way and manner things have turned out in the APC is a bad omen for democracy. But it should be on record that there was a presidential directive. That directive must be strictly adhered to; otherwise, it will attract legal consequences.”
Our correspondent reports that as of yesterday, some aspirants had resolved to petition Buhari, while others had already written to the Senator Adamu-led National Working Committee (NWC) demanding their monies.
Another aspirant from the South who also stepped down at the convention ground told our correspondent yesterday that the party risked losing the 2023 general polls.
“It’s shameful that we are where we are today. Impunity still reigns in APC. But I can assure you we will revolt if our monies are not refunded on account of whatever their belief is,” he said.
But a new member of the Adamu-led NWC in a telephone interview with Daily Trust said the aggrieved aspirants should be patient with the party to sort out the issue.
Our correspondent, who was at the APC national secretariat in Abuja on Monday and Tuesday, however, reports that Adamu is yet to resume office since his inauguration on Sunday.
But a chieftain of the party from Adamawa State, who contested the office of national chairman and later opted for that of deputy national chairman (North) because of zoning in the party, Sunny Sylvester Moniedafe, told newsmen in Abuja yesterday that he would not defect but remain in the APC to fight impunity and injustice.
Moniedafe, who stepped down at the convention ground, said he was not comfortable with the way things went in the name of consensus.
He said consensus if not transparently and properly handled amounted to imposition which, he added, is a threat to democracy.
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