The APC Aqida, a group formed by some governorship aspirants in Katsina State, has described the recent congresses as “despicable and outrageous”.
A statement signed by the chairman of the group, Senator Mohammed Liman, and other leaders, Dr Usman Bugaje, Alhaji Sada Ilu and Senator Sadiq Yar’Adua also threatened to quit the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for lack of order and discipline.
They stated that they had waited to see that the party reorganized itself and bring order and sanity but to no avail.
The group said, “The APC congress is a national disgrace to the citizens of the country, both at home and abroad. In Katsina State, which is the primary constituency of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, forms were not sold to many who wanted to contest. This in itself was not surprising because they jubilated the attempts of the party to extend its tenure unconstitutionally.
“This exclusion has been the hallmark of the party from its inception. Only in Daura, Sarkin Yara wards were there semblance of elections. In all others, it was a sham.
“Actually, what happened in Katsina during the last congresses was confirmation of all our fears that democracy, when taken over by a group of people who have lost their conscience and sense of shame, can only be scandalized and the party dragged into disrepute, making it look worse than the very party the APC loved to condemn.”
They further said, “We wrote complaints to the national headquarters to no avail. This has implications and repercussions beyond Katsina considering its special status as the state of the president on the ruling party.
“This is exactly why we formed the APC Aqida group within the party to push for integrity, equity and respect or processes and procedures.
“Since this does not appear to the party at both state and national levels, we of the Katsina Aqida wish to condemn these exercises and the APC in Katsina for tarnishing the image of our people.
“We must finally make the important point that as citizens we have options and will not remain in a party which has chosen to ignore all appeals to decorum and due processes and make impropriety its default mechanism and has no shame in perpetrating all manners of illegalities,” the group said.
