Kogi West Senatorial Aspirant Dumps APC, Alleges Impunity, Manipulation

Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

Worried by the alleged high level of impunity and manipulation by the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State, a chieftain of the party, Mohammed Ibunkun Abubakar, has dumped the party in order to contest for the Kogi West senatorial ticket on another political party platform.

Also, the state chairman of the party has denied any form of impunity, imposition and manipulations in the APC in the state.

Abubakar in a chat with journalists in Lokoja yesterday expressed disgust over the bad way in which the party, especially the Kogi State chapter, handled it, lamenting that APC is not being run the way a truly democratic party should be run.

According to him, “The APC Kogi State chapter has more or less become a personal property. APC, as a party in Kogi State has become a platform which people are expected to run on, yet it’s being controlled from the bedroom or residential guest quarters of an individual, and in this case, the state governor. I feel that you get to a point in life where there are some things you should not tolerate. If as a politician, I have to go through the informal leaders who reside in the leader’s residential quarters even to be able to have a relationship with the leader, something must be wrong with the system.

“This is why most politicians end up being nomadic politicians. There is a reign of impunity everywhere; people’s opinions and positions are not respected by the party leadership. This is the reason most Nigerian politicians switch parties as often as you can get. So, I decided to dump the APC at this point, when it has becomes clear that I should no longer tolerate the reign of impunity, and lack of tolerance for democratic norms in the Kogi State chapter of the APC.”

The senatorial hopeful bemoaned the lack of democratic ideals on the part of the leadership, noting that it is not just the formal leadership, but also the informal leadership.

He said: “We have a situation where even the governor’s kitchen cabinet have become leaders of the party and they dictate the tune to the detriment of the majority of members of the party.

“The reign of impunity has been on but the ticket thing is the final straw. Or ordinarily, the Electoral Act requires that any political party that wants to field candidates for election should go for primaries. It is excited that a level-playing field is provided for direct, indirect primary or the so-called consensus.”

“But a situation where the most influential and powerful person in the party, in this case, the leader of the party, will call the local government party chairmen to come and endorse aspirants nomination forms in this house yet promise is being made that you are providing a level-playing field, you could see that something is wrong with that system. A lot of people are stomaching these things because they don’t have a choice or they feel they should continue to tag along.”

Meanwhile, the state Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Bello, has denied any imposition of candidates in the party.

According to him, “There is no iota of truth in the allegation; at best, I can say such allegation is in the figment of their imagination.”