The gale of defection into the ruling All Progressives Congress from the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party has taken a dramatic twist as party chieftains have started accusing new entrants of hijacking party structures in the Federal Capital Territory.
Ahead of the FCT Council polls, the APC chieftains on Monday stormed the party national secretariat to submit a petition to the party national chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The protesters drawn from the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and Bwari Area Council, accused the likes of Senator Phillip Aduda and the incumbent Executive Chairman of AMAC, Hon. Christopher Zakka Maikalangu of arm-twisting those they met in the ruling party.
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Spokesperson of the protesters, Mallam Idris Jibril, who addressed journalists condemned what he described as the wholesale takeover of APC structures in each of the area councils of the FCT by decampees, who moved into the ruling party from the opposition PDP between January and May this year.
The protesters displayed placards with inscriptions, such as: “We don’t want Aduda, we don’t want PDP members,” “We say no to PDP agents in FCT APC,” “Stop PDP agents from hijacking APC FCT election,” among others, called for the immediate disqualification of Danjuma Samuel Shekwolo, Mr. Christopher Zakka Maikalangu and also halt the PDP-instigated subversion of internal democracy in FCT APC structure.
The petition addressed to the APC National Chairman read in part: “We write as loyal, concerned, and committed stakeholders of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), under the banner of the APC Consolidation Group.
“This petition is borne out of deep concern over the dangerous infiltration of the FCT APC by individuals who neither reflect the values of the party nor meet the constitutional requirements for nomination, yet are being positioned as candidates in a brazen attempt to hijack our internal processes.”
The aggrieved APC members raised concern over alleged breaches of the party constitution.
Citing Article 20.1(iii) of the APC Constitution, which states that “No person shall be eligible to contest for any elective position or be nominated as a candidate unless he/she has been a financial member of the Party for at least three (3) months and has fulfilled all party requirements,” they demanded the immediate disqualification of Danjuma Samuel Shekwolo, Mr Christopher Zakka Maikalangu and also halt the PDP-instigated subversion of internal democracy in FCT APC chapter.
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