Deputy senate leader meets Oyegun
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday waded into the brewing crisis in the North-west zonal chapter of the party as it summoned Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to explain his role in the crisis.
Also yesterday, the Deputy Senate Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Alla, came to interface with the national leadership of APC and to brief the party on the recent change of guards in the office of the Senate Majority Leader.
Kwankwaso who arrived at the party secretariat at about 2.30 pm yesterday, met with the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, behind closed-doors for about 30 p.m. and stormed out with his aides in tow, shoving aside media men who wanted to interview him.
The quarrel among the party men began when the APC zonal Women Leader (North-west), Hajia Aisha Kaita, alleged that the North-west National Vice Chairman of the party’s Inuwa Abdulkadir, could not account for the millions of naira of the party funds meant for campaign, an allegation that is threatening the unity of the zonal chapter of the party.
However, Abdulkadir, on his part, accused the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufa’I, and the former governor of Kano State of sponsoring allegations of fraud against him due to their bitterness in the manner in which the national leadership of the party handled the crisis in both state chapters.
THISDAY gathered from sources at the meeting that Kwankwaso came to explain all that he knew about the brewing crisis which is said to be linked with the earlier face-off between him and Kano Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.
It was gathered that Kwankwaso expressed displeasure with the way the crisis in the Kano State chapter was handled by the Senator Mohammed Magoro-led committee which investigated the removal of the former Chairman of the Kano State chapter of the party, Haruna Doguwa.
Regarding the misunderstanding between the Kaduna State governor and the vice chairman, it was learnt that it had to do with the move to resolve the conflict el-Rufai has with Senator Shehu Sani, who represents Kaduna Central district.
Neither the party’s National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, nor Kwankwaso could speak on the outcome of yesterday’s meeting with Kwakwanso which had some members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) in attendance.
Following the allegations and counter allegations by both the Zonal woman leader and the National Vice Chairman, the National Publicity Secretary of APC, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi, had said last Saturday that the party would respond appropriately to the matter.
“The party has taken note of the comments made by the Zonal Vice Chairman at the press conference and I can assure you we will respond appropriately. I do not want to see what is going on between the two party men as crisis; you know politics by its nature is bound to breed conflict and when there is conflict, it does not mean that automatically you have crisis. Whenever you have conflict, they will be addressed,” he said.
