Kano APC faction ‘sacks Ganduje loyalists’

A faction of the Kano chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), under the leadership of Hussaini Isa Mariaga, has sacked the Abdullahi Abbas-led executive.

The Abbas-led executive — reelected into office in May 2018 after a crisis that rocked the party in 2017 — is said to be loyal to Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano.

Speaking with journalists on Thursday in Kano, Mariaga alleged that the Abbas-led executive assumed office through  “kangaroo” election and had refused to unite members of the party.

“Abdullahi Abbas came into being as chairman of the party through a kangaroo election, but instead of him to try to mend fences with everybody, he was busy ruling with impunity,” he said.

“The fact remains that his executive leadership is an unconstitutional and illegal body; anything that came under them is null and void.”

Mariaga urged party members contesting in the January 2021 local government election in the state, under the leadership of Abbas, not to “waste their time”, and alleged that the poll will be declared null and void.

“In other words, what I mean is that anybody who contests the forthcoming January 2021 local government elections under the Mr Abdullahi executive leadership is wasting his time because his election, even if he wins, is null and void,” he said.

“You can see that even the process that produced all the local government chairmen candidates was so manipulative and undemocratic, where forms for the contest were not allowed to be sold to anybody, but to their selective cronies.

“This is the height of impunity one can see in democratic settings like this one we are running; that is why we unanimously agreed to remove him as chairman, and anything that came under him is null and void.”

Mariaga called on the party’s national leadership to appoint a caretaker committee to conduct elections to usher in a new set of executives in the state.