The Interim Management Committee and Chairmanship Aspirants of the Kaduna State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have accused the Deputy National Secretary of the party and former FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir El-rufai, of manipulating the recently conducted ward and local government congresses which was inconclusive due to the alleged antics of the former minister and his agents.
While the party is determined to uproot the PDP in the forthcoming 2015 elections, the ward and local congresses to elect those to lead the party at the grass root level seems to be tearing the party members.
Addressing a press conference in Kaduna on Monday, Chairman of the interim Management Committee, who doubles as Spokesman of the Forum of Chairmanship Aspirants, Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed, also accused the State Congress Committee of double standards and incompetence to conduct credible and transparent congress.
He added that the entire members of the party in the state have lost confidence in the committee, and called on the APC national leadership to wade into the crisis and immediately disband the committee and appoint a new one before the state congress taking place on Saturday, June 6.
According to the nine state chairmanship aspirants and other state executive members of the party, the roles played by Mallam El-Rufai, his agents and some legislators have created massive problems for the Kaduna State APC and is capable of destroying the party if something is not done urgently to address them.
However, in a dramatic manner, while the press conference was going on, the man in the centre of the whole drama, Mallam El-rufai surfaced.
He described the accusations levelled against him by the aggrieved members of the party as baseless. He told newsmen that those crying wolf are the people who don’t have electoral value and therefore resorted to cheap blackmail, and therefore advised them to follow proper channels to address their grievances instead of going to the media.
The chairmanship aspirants – who lost during the exercise – are still crying wolf, and maintained that they want the entire process cancelled to give room for a fresh congress.
