Aideloje Ojo
Angry delegates and some aspirants have aborted the state congress of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Niger state over alleged imposition of candidates by a prominent stakeholder of the party.
Blueprint learnt that the anger of the delegates was sparked by the sudden appearance and distribution of a list of purported consensus candidates by the stakeholder and his conspirators when voting was about to start at the Abdulsalami Youth Centre on Sunday.
Speaking with Blueprint, the secretary of the state congress committee, Comrade Sabo Mohammed, said the congress was inconclusive due to its disruption by the aggrieved persons.
He said the state congress committee had nothing to do with the list circulated by the stakeholder adding that “there was communication gap between the stakeholder and the followers.”
He said: “The stakeholder had informed the committee that there were efforts to have harmonised list after we have successfully accredited 1791 delegates. We thought he was communicating to us the decision of all the stakeholders because of his strategic position but after the procedure of voting was announced, some members started distributing a list of what they called consensus candidates and this triggered the anger of other candidates and delegates.”
Comrade Sabo said that efforts to calm the delegates and convinced them that the committee had nothing to do with the list failed, adding that “at this point security withdrew from the venue and we had to leave.”
Meanwhile, a group of aggrieved candidates led by Hon. Solomon Iyaze has described the congress as “a fraud,” insisting that there was no election and that a new date should be fixed for “proper congress.”
