Katsina APC Adopts Consensus Option for Congresses

By Francis Sardauna

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Katsina State has adopted consensus option in the election of party officials at both ward, local government and state levels.

The Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, who disclosed this to journalists at his country home in Kankai, said the decision was taken during the party’s critical stakeholders’ meeting held last Monday at the Government House.

THISDAY, which monitored the APC ward congress in Katsina, Dutse, Kankia, Ingawa, Charanchi, Rimi and Kusada Local Government Areas, reports that the exercise was through consensus.

Dangiwa explained that consensus remains the best option for the election of the ruling party’s officials at all levels in the country, adding that consensus would bring unity and strengthen the APC’s chances of wining the forthcoming general election.

He said: “The constitution provides that you choose among the three — either direct, indirect or consensus — whichever you took surpasses as long as the stakeholders of that state chose the one that best suit them, then go ahead with it.

“As far as I know, Katsina State APC stakeholders adopted the consensus. But despite accepting the consensus, they decentralised it and said that all local government should go and further discuss with their own individual stakeholders in their various local governments.

“When there is majority of people who disagreed with the consensus, they should go ahead and do the indirect. That was the instruction given at the stakeholders’ meeting and that is what is adopted. The party is more strengthened if you adopt the consensus but by the time you go into the other type of elections, it will bring a lot of problems.”

The member representing Kankia-Kusada-Ingawa at the House of Representatives, Hon. Abubakar Yahaya Kusada, also corroborated Dangiwa’s statement, saying APC in Katsina State has adopted consensus option.

Kusada, who addressed journalists in Kusada, urged those against the adoption of consensus for election of party officials in the state to sheath their sword and work together for the betterment of the APC in the state.