The Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has declared Mainasara Sani to be the authentic chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Sokoto State.
Malami stated this at a ceremony organised by the member representing Gwadabawa/ Illela Federal Constituency, Abdullahi Balarabe Salame, who also belongs to the Senator Abubakar Gada-led faction.
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The Sokoto State chapter of the party is neck-deep in a crisis as political stakeholders in the state had organised a parallel state congress where two executives emerged with each of them claiming legitimacy.
One of the APC factions in the state is loyal to a former governor of the state, Aliyu Wamakko, while another is loyal to Senator Abubakar Gada. The two factions are already in court.
Sani, who was declared as the legitimate state chairman of the party by Malami, was elected at the state congress organised by the Senator Gada-led faction in the state.
The Wamakko-led faction produced Isa Sadiq Achida as the state chairman of the party.
Speaking at the occasion, Malami said, “This is the elected chairman of the party in the state. His election was affirmed by the court.”
A former governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, said 90 percent of elected officers don’t read their party manifesto from cover to cover, and urged Nigerians to vote for people who can deliver without minding their political parties.
“If you make a wrong choice, you must tell God why you do that because all the political parties are the same,” he said.
Sani who spoke earlier said he was the authentic chairman of the party in the state “as affirmed by a competent court of law.”
Reacting, the chairman of the Wamakko-led faction, Isa Sadiq Achida, said the endorsement was a charade, and urged Malami to go and resolve the crisis in his state before coming to create problems in Sokoto.
“This is the man who could not win his polling unit during the last local government election in Kebbi State.
“Malami just played to the gallery because he knows the people he is supporting have lost bearing as far as Sokoto politics is concerned. We are the authentic leaders of the party in the state. We are in control of all the wards and the local government areas. We have two senators, six members of the House of Representatives and 15 members of the state House of Assembly in our fold,” Achida said.
He added that the minister’s action had shown that he was behind the crises in the Kano and Sokoto State chapters of the APC.
