Supporters of Gwamna in Gombe Burn Brooms, Want Him to Quit APC

Segun Awofadeji in Gombe

Supporters of Dr. Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna, who recently set Gombe State agog with chants of loyalty, have called on him to quit the All Progressives Congress (APC) and contest for governor on any other party platform.

Some of them (supporters) were seen in different spots in Kaltungo town last weekend burning brooms (symbol of APC) in solidarity with Gwamna.

Gwamna was one of the strongest Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aspirants before the 2019 elections, who switched to the APC after he was denied the PDP ticket in a controversial circumstance.

He dumped the PDP in the state then and joined the APC, combined forces and ensured victory for the APC that produced the state Governor, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya.

The supporters, while giving reasons for their actions, alleged that there were plots by the leadership of the APC in the state to unanimously endorse the incumbent governor, Yahaya, for second term.

According to one of the supporters, Isah Kaltungo, in many of the local government areas, including Kaltungo, where the governor visited, the party executives openly declared Yahaya as their candidate for 2023.

“The party stakeholders have endorsed Yahaya at gatherings in the areas of Kaltungo, Yamaltu-Deba and Gombe,” he alleged.

He said this means that they are not willing to conduct any primary election. “They will not provide a fair playing ground for other aspirants but will only adopt the governor as their candidate,” he alleged.

Kaltungo also claimed in an interview with journalists that he influenced 200 APC supporters in Kaltungo LGA to dump the party and burned the brooms.

“We, therefore, urge Jamilu to leave the ruling party and join any other party. We are ready to follow him even to APGA. I believe that Jamilu is popular among the electorate and can win if free and fair election is held because of his humanitarian services,” he said.

However, in his reaction yesterday, the APC Chairman in Kaltungo LGA, Ayuba Hassan, confirmed that some boys, not up to 10, approached the party over their dissatisfaction with what is happening in the APC-led government.

He told THISDAY in a telephone interview that they agreed to meet on January 1, 2022, but that their demands were not something the party can handle.

“Our responsibility is not to them alone, these are boys that don’t have political value. As far as we are concerned, this Jamilu is an APC member; he has not in any way showed that he has switched to PDP, so they are contradicting themselves by burning brooms while their principal is still in APC,” he said.