By Jerry Zwingwina (Adamawa State Correspondent)
A simmering crisis is currently brewing in Adamawa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as a chieftain of the party, Hussaini Gambo Nakura, has accused the immediate-past North-East Zonal Vice Chairman of the party, Comrade Mustapha Salihu, and a member of the exco in Adamawa State, Saidu Naira and others for unilaterally doctoring the result of the local government party congress.
Nakura alleged that the claimed perversion of the party's Congress result was allegedly to favor some highly connected persons in Abuja. He specifically accused Salihu of taking advantage of his alleged closeness to the interim national caretaker chairman of the party, Governor Mai Mala-Buni, to allegedly tamper with the Congress results.
Nakura also cautioned Salihu and Naira against what they described as "destroying the party on the alter of their selfish interests", noting that they cannot achieve whatever motive they had in mind if the party is dead.
"Some of them think the party is for sale. The progress of the party is not in their agenda but how to make pecuniary capital regardless of the fate and destiny of the party. We know how some of them were offering party positions to the highest bidders. Their major attraction is how to use the party platform for self-enrichment," Nakura claimed.
The APC Chieftain called on the national chairman of the party whom he described as a true democrat, to "immediately reverse the intransigence before Salihu and his co-travelers rock the ship of the party in Adamawa State".
He said it was disheartening to note that despite allegedly committing such a heinous crime, Salihu, who, he said, appeared not remorseful and unfazed for allegedly aiding and abetting such perceived travesty. Nakura claimed that Salihu has been openly boasting that he and his co-travelers have changed the results of the congresses and that nothing will happen to them.
He noted that if left unchecked, such action may lead to severe consequences like the loss of victory by the party in the 2023 elections. He however expressed optimism that they will "defeat the forces of darkness who are trying at all cost to wreak the party. I want to assure you that APC will regain its winning streak in Adamawa State because there are good men who will not allow such travesty to uphold.
"In a democracy, the will of the majority prevails and must be upheld, and that is why I'm telling you that the antics of Salihu and his backers will be defeated and APC will come out stronger to regain its lost mandate in the state.
"In fact during one of our stakeholders meeting, I told Salihu that we will never allow the travesty they wanted to host on the party to sail through. During our meeting with Mai Mala-Buni, we brought the list of the duly elected excive members which was compared with the doctored ones. It was then we established that in Mubi, the name of a man was presented as woman leader. Is it not shameful?" he queried.
Nakura also said, in his constituency which is Yola North, names of duly elected ward executives were unilaterally changed, which sparked serious disquiet and anxiety, adding that such show of disrespect will surely be resisted. He however urged the national secretariat of the party to upturn such injustice, which, according to him, could lead to anarchy if left unchecked.
Nakura noted that the stakeholders were taken aback when they saw different names of elected exco other than the ones who were either elected or upheld based on consensus in some wards and local governments. He added that such action presents real threat to democracy.
"After the successful conduct of the ward and local government congresses, the state chapter of the party forwarded the names of duly elected excos to the national secretariat, unfortunately, the names were changed and those of strange exco were brought in almost all the local governments in the state.
"It is poignant to state that in Mubi, the name of a man was brought in as a woman leader. This shows how desperate these dark forces are bent on destroying the party and democracy as a whole. But the good thing is that men of goodwill are not folding their arms to watch the shenanigan unfold.
"And as for their backers in Abuja who want to use the power in their grip to play God, it is important to know that power is ephemeral and will never last. They should know also that there is life after power and whatever atrocity they upheld, will come back to hunt them.
"It is an aberration for one man to think that he can play God and change the destiny of millions of Adamawa people to satisfy his political ego. I was surprised when Comrade Mustapha Salihu openly and boldly told me that he unilaterally changed the names," Nakura said, noting that in order to address the heist, a 17-man committee from Yola north was constituted to meet with the national caretaker chairman of the party to ensure that the right thing was done.
"Because of our resolve to do what is right, a 17-man committee which I was a part of, was constituted with the mandate to meet with the national caretaker chairman of the party, Mai Mala-Buni. We met with the caretaker chairman on Thursday September 2, 2021. The meeting was attended by Prof Mamman Tahir, acting Zonal Vice Chairman North East, Chief of staff to Mai Mala-Buni, Comrade Mustapha Salihu and others.
"Both the national caretaker chairman and Professor Mamman Tahir assured us that the issue will be looked into and the right thing done. The committee also used the opportunity to separately meet with the SGF, Boss Mustapha, Sen. Aishatu Ahmed Binani and Senator Abdulaziz Nyako, all in a bid to ensure that the party is brought back to the path of sanity and probity. All the stakeholders commended us for the show of maturity to ensure an amicable resolution of the matter," Nakura said.
He also.noted that it was hard to believe that the duly elected excos in the ward of major stakeholders of the party in Yola South, including the ward of the current senator representing Adamawa Central, Aisha Binani, (Mbamoi) and that of Nuhu Ribadu, (Bako) ward, were all altered by one man.
In the same vein, he noted that the wards of senior stakeholders in Yola North like the PA to president Buhari on domestic matters, Sarki Abba, (Ajiya) ward, also suffered similar fate as the names of the duly elected excos were removed and new ones written.
Nakura said the no love lost and serious altercations coming from Mubi were as a result of the alleged odious actions of Salihu. He added that as a result of the injustice meted to the people of Mubi, major stakeholders like former Governor Muhammad Umaru Jibrilla Bindow and the current senator representing Adamawa north, Ishaku Abbo, have started nursing the idea of seeking for a legal redress unless the situation is remedied.
Nakura who accused Salihu of not adding any value to APC, alleged that the man has largely confined himself to Abuja and has not been attending any party activity in the state. He accused Salihu of using his relationship with the national caretaker chairman to destroy what others have built.
"Salihu is not contribution to the growth of the party in Adamawa State. We all know the people promoting the party in Adamawa, people like the SGF, Boss Mustapha, Minister, Sen Aisha Binani, Sarki Abba, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, Abdulaziz Nyako and host of others.
" While these people are trying to build the party, Salihu and his ilk who are not contributing to its development, are busy trying to destroy it. But l believe that their actions will boomerang in their faces," he said.
Nakura expressed disgust with the way and manner Salihu made Yushau Adamu, a close associate of Sulaiman Adamu, the chairman of Yola South who was expelled from the party for wishing Buhari to drop dead, to supervise the LG congress of the party in Yola North local government. NNL.
