A stakeholders’ meeting of the Jigawa State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) convened to mend the crack in the party’s hierarchy appears to have instead escalated the crisis as some key stakeholders stayed away from it.
The caucus meeting, which was held at the government house in Dutse, was presided over by Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar on Sunday. Two out of the three senators from the state, 10 out of the 11 members of the House of Representatives from the state and some members of the State House of Assembly attended the meeting.
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However, the senator representing Jigawa Central Senatorial District, Muhammad Sabo Nakudu and some of his supporters stayed away.
Similarly, another key leader of the party in the state, Farouk Adamu Aliyu was conspicuously absent at the meeting. Also absent were a former governor of the state, Ali Sa’ad Birnin Kudu and a Federal Commissioner representing the state at the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RAMFAC), Alhaji Ahmed Mahmoud.
The latest development is raising tension in the political atmosphere of the state ahead of the 2023 general elections. The meeting, which did not last more than one hour, ended without a communiqué, our correspondent reports.
However, the acting chairman of the party, Muhammed Umar, told reporters later that the meeting was to discuss how to move the party forward and also to familiarise members with new appointees from the state at the federal level.
It would be recalled that a similar meeting on September 10, 2020 led to the removal of the state chairman of the party, Alhaji Habibu Sara, an ally of Senator Nakudu on allegations of financial irregularities, among others. It was after Sara’s ouster that Umar was appointed as the acting chairman.
Our correspondent reports that an attempt by the national secretariat of the party to resolve the issue appears to have hit the rocks. There has been no love lost between the camps of the governor and Senator Nakudu.
In a telephone interview with Daily Trust yesterday, the former chairman, Habibu Sara, said he was not invited, adding, “I was supposed to be the convener of the meeting.”
Nakudu and Aliyu could not be reached for comment.
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