Daji Sani in Yola
Crisis has rocked the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State, as three leading governorship aspirants alleged plans to alter the delegates list meant to participate in the coming governorship primary election slated for Friday.
The governorship aspirants made the
allegation known at a press briefing last Tuesday night in the state capital, Yola.
The aspirants, who were led by a serving member in the House of Representatives, Hon, Abdulrazak Namdas, alleged that they had received calls from countless delegates complaining that their names had vanished from the list or that there was a plot by vested interest to remove their names.
However the allegation was immediately countered in a press briefing yesterday by the state executives of the party, which said any such thing that might have occurred would be reversed.
While responding to questions by journalists, two other APC governorship aspirants, who jointly addressed journalists at the briefing and expressed the same concern, were a former Majority Leader in the state House of Assembly, Hon Wafarniyi Theman, and a top businessman, Mustapha Umar.
Namdas, who gave the initial address at the briefing, explained that the APC had previously directed that each ward of the state should have five delegates, two of whom must be women.
He said it was further agreed that where all five delegates of a ward were men, two should be dropped and nominate either their wives or female relations to take their places.
Namdas said while the arrangement to ensure that each ward had two women led to agreed change in the original ward lists, some politicians had made illegal alterations of their own.
He said: “Some delegates are calling us from various places alleging that their names have already been removed. So, we have a challenge already and we need to tell the world.
“We have crisscrossed the state. We have seen our delegates. But if after going round and interacting with delegates only on election day to find out that the delegates you know are no longer delegates because they have been substituted, or delegates come to election and can no longer find their names on the delegates list, then there is a problem.”
On their part, however, both the state Executive Committee of the APC and the panel for state Assembly/Special Delegates Conference sent from party headquarters in Abuja said the allegations were unreal, and that in any case, no funny thing that might have been done would be allowed to stand.
Leader of the panel from Abuja, Dr. Ahmed Aminu, promised to maintain neutrality throughout the conduct of the exercise in the state.
