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Three former commissioners, councillors dump party
More to follow as aggrieved aspirants meet in Abuja
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There is uneasy calm in the Niger State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as some aggrieved members of the party may have concluded plans to dump the party following what they described as a high level of injustice meted out to them during the just-concluded party primaries for the 2027 general elections.
Indications of this emerged last week when some of the aggrieved aspirants for House of Representatives seats met in Abuja to take a position on their next line of action.
This is, however, coming barely three weeks after no fewer than three former commissioners who served in the immediate past administration in the state dumped the party.
The former commissioners are Mamman Musa, Mai Nasara Dan Mallam and Yusuf Suleiman.
In addition to this, all members of the forum of former councillors from Bida Local Government Area of the state have defected from the party, citing a lack of internal democracy as their reason for leaving.
However, a source close to the Abuja meeting of the aggrieved aspirants told our correspondent that the meeting was meant to take a position following what they described as a stage-managed consensus arrangement by the party in the selection of candidates for the general elections.
They condemned the way and manner the consensus arrangement was handled, alleging that only the governor’s preferred candidates were selected for the various political offices ahead of the elections.
Our source stated that the APC in the state is on the verge of implosion, occasioned by the actions of Governor Umaru Mohammed Bago, where candidates were allegedly hand-picked in complete disregard of democratic principles.
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Aside from these aggrieved National Assembly aspirants, our source further hinted that several former commissioners, former local government chairmen and other former appointees have concluded plans to leave the party.
Some party chieftains who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity expressed regret over the development, saying that “the so called consensus arrangements was poorly handled and that is what has triggered this plan mass defection.
“My advise is that the governor and the party leadership should not ignored the Abuja meeting of the aggrieved aspirants.
“Politics is not only about winning elections, it is about sustaining unity, rewarding loyalty, and managing the interests of party stakeholders”.
He warned that political leaders who fail to appreciate this reality often discover, sometimes too late, that impressive performance in government alone cannot guarantee political success.
According to him, “Whether the meeting was intended to review the outcome of the primaries or to discuss the way forward, one fact remains clear: whenever prominent party stakeholders converge after a contentious primaries or consensus process as the case may be, it is a signal that unresolved issues still exist within the party.”
Although the party was said to have set up a reconciliation committee after the consensus arrangement to reconcile aggrieved members, the committee has not recorded any significant progress.
Efforts to reach the party’s Publicity Secretary in the state, Musa Sarkinkaji, for comment on the development were unsuccessful, as his mobile phone could not be reached.
