Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has reacted to the Supreme Court ruling on the 2019 general elections conducted in Zamfara State, describing it as a sad day for the ruling party, just as it said that it had accepted the judgement.
Shortly after the Supreme Court judgement in Abuja, the APC National Working Committee (NWC) convened an emergency meeting to deliberate on the ruling.
Although the ruling party national leadership did not officially brief newsmen after the emergency meeting that lasted several hours, the APC Deputy National Chairman South-South, Hillad Eta, described the ruling as a sad day for the party.
“It’s a sad day for every member of the ruling APC. It’s a very sad day for us,” he emphasised.
On whether lack of internal democracy contributed to what played out in Zamfara, he said: “I am a Democrat. The issue of internal democracy is a serious problem in our country but it is work in progress. We have made a lot of stride in the party.”
Asked whether the national and state leadership of the party mismanaged the Zamfara crisis, he said: “I don’t think that the party mismanaged the crises in our Zamfara State chapter. We don’t have any option than to accept the judgement of the Supreme Court and go ahead and learn some lessons from it. That is what I can say for now.”
Meanwhile, the ruling party, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, revealed that it had appointed Victor Giadom as the acting National Secretary of the party.
“The NWC of the APC has appointed Giadom as the party’s acting National Secretary, pending when Yobe State nominates a replacement for the former National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, who is the governor-elect of Yobe State. Before the appointment, Giadom was the Party’s Deputy National Secretary,” the statement read.