APC congress: Former Reps Speaker, Dogara accused of hijacking nomination forms

Another leadership crisis has reared its head in the Bauchi State Chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as some members of the party in Tafawa Balewa LGA one of the LGAs that make up the Bogoro /Dass /Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency of the state have accused former Speaker of the House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara, of hijacking and pocketing the party in the area.

Rising from an emergency meeting, on Thursday, at the Vanilla Garden in Bauchi, the group accused the immediate past Speaker, House of Reps of hijacking all the nomination forms for the party’s forthcoming congresses in the area.

While addressing Journalists at the end of his group’s meeting, the leader of the group, Alhaji Bala Burga, alleged that the former speaker has perfected plans to deny political actors who do not belong to his camp in the Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency the opportunity of seeking elective offices in the party.

According to him, “instead of giving the nominations forms to the party Chairman in Tafawa Balewa LGA, APC leadership of the party in the state gave the nomination forms to an ally of Yakubu Dogara, Muhammad Aminu Tukur, who in turn gave them to Dogara’s supporters only.”

Bala Burga claimed that the development has denied members of APC who are not in Dogara’s camp the opportunity to get the forms in line with principles of justice, fairness and democratic tenets.

He, however, said that being law-abiding members of the party, the aggrieved members filed their complaints before the APC appeal committee.

He then called on President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Mai Mala Buni-led caretaker committee to intervene in the matter in order to give members equal rights and opportunities in the best interest of the party line with its constitution.

“It is good for all APC members to learn their lesson from what happened in Zamfara State where the Supreme Court sacked all elected members of the party and gave victory to PDP for the failure of APC to conduct party primaries according to the party constitution,” he admonished.

Bala Burga declared that in the best interest of justice, all interest groups in the party had to be consulted with a view to reaching an amicable resolution in accordance with the guidelines issued by the national leadership of the party.

When contacted, Hon Tukur denied the allegation against Dogara, saying that as the leader of the party in the federal constituency, interested party members paid for nomination forms through the former speaker who directed him (Tukur) to purchase the forms for them.

According to him, the forms were purchased and he distributed same to recognized elected party chairmen in the three local government areas.

Aminu Tukur said, “The APC in the state agreed to hold congresses through consensus and credible stakeholders of APC in Dass, Tafawa Balewa, and Bogoro Federal Constituency paid their nomination forms through the leader of party and high ranking principal officer, Yakubu Dogara.

“Dogara sent the money to purchase the forms through me. I bought the forms on behalf of the credible stakeholders in Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro constituency as directed by Dogara and I distributed the forms to recognized elected party chairmen in the areas,” he explained.

He submitted that they were not only fair and just in all they were doing but also carried all genuine stakeholders in Tafawa Balewa LGA along, saying that, “if we are not fair to all, why the complaint and allegation are coming from one area?”

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.    APC congress: Former Reps Speaker, Dogara accused of hijacking nomination forms