APC crisis gets messier in Gombe, Anambra

The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gombe and Anambra states got messier on Tuesday with warring camps engaging in war words.

In Gombe, a former governor of the state, Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje, Tuesday accused the state governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, of persecuting him alongside his supporters.

• Big names cannot give APC presidency in 2023 – Aspirant
• Convention: APC constitutes budget c’ttee, others

A feud has been raging between the camp of the governor and that of Goje, a two-term governor of the state.

Goje made the allegation through his counsels led by Barrister Herbert Nwoye alongside Barrister Luka Haruna and seven others.

Addressing newsmen, Barrister Nwoye accused Governor Yahaya of violating a court order which directed both parties to maintain the status quo pending ruling on the matter.

He said Goje has filed a motion exparte before a Federal High Court in Gombe where he sought an interim injunction to restrain the police and the Gombe State government from inviting, reporting or interrogating him and his associates, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction against the state government.

According to Nwoye, the court had granted their prayers, where it asked both parties to maintain the status quo, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on January 18, 2022.

Goje, through the counsels, further accused the state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Zubairu Mohammed Umar and the state Acting Chief Judge, Justice Mu’azu Pindiga, of hiding under the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, to humiliate and violate the right of Goje’s associates and supporters.

The cunsels, therefore, called on the state government to ensure that the order of the court is complied with as the suit they filed is still pending before the federal high court.

When contacted, the attorney general, Barrister Umar, said he was still recuperating from a brief illness, but he will respond to the issues raised by Goje through his counsels tomorrow (today).

In Anambra, the crisis rocking the APC has also assumed another dimension as the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige and the party’s candidate in the November governorship election, Senator Andy Uba’s factions fight dirty over an Abuja High Court judgment.

The two factions have been entrapped in a fight over who controls the party structure in the state immediately after the state governorship election.

The Ngige faction had alleged that Andy Uba is not the leader of the party, while Uba camp insisted that he remains the party’s authentic leader in the state.

The Uba faction, in a statement, while reacting to the judgment of Hon. Justice Inyang Ekwo of Abuja High Court that nullified his candidacy, reiterated that Uba remains the leader in the state.

The Ngige camp, meanwhile, is distancing itself from what it described as a wilful foray into avoidable contempt of the court.

In a statement by the Andy Uba faction, State Publicity Secretary Barr. Chukwunonso Chinwuba said Sen. Andy Uba remains the candidate of the party and that the judgment of the Federal High Court Abuja nullifying his candidature will not stand as the party has concluded plans to appeal the judgment.

The Ngige faction in a statement by its State Publicity Secretary, Okelo Madukaife said APC has not issued any statement against the judgment.

The statement read: “While we grant anyone affected by the judgement the right to notify the public of his, her or their intention to appeal, it should be sufficient for such intention to be registered by the individual or his private assign.

 “Our great party regrets that we are at the unfortunate point where our party can be stripped of candidature, by a court of competent jurisdiction, confirming what we have always known for a fact.”