John Adams, Minna
Despite the reconciliatory committee set up by the National Working Committee (NWC) of All Progressives Congress (APC) to reconcile aggrieved members of the party, the Niger East chapter of the party has vowed to “fight on” over the substitution of its candidate and the presumed winner of the primary election, Alhaji Sani Musa.
The national leadership of the party had given automatic ticket to incumbent senator, David Umaru, as against Alhaji Sani Musa (313) who won the primary election conducted in the senatorial zone two months ago.
The Sani Musa Senatorial Campaign Organisation has, therefore, dissociated itself from the purported reconciliation of the committee put up by the NWC of the party, and has vowed to press on with the case it filed against Sen. David Umaru at an Abuja Federal High Court challenging the substitution of “our candidate with Senator David Umaru”.
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Director General of the Campaign Organisation, Alhaji Idris Abubakar Azozo said, in Minna, on Wednesday that, “We will file an interlocutory injunction case before the court at its next sitting on December 3, to ask Sen. David Umoru to stop parading himself as the senatorial candidate of the APC in the Niger East senatorial zone.
“We will also ask the court for accelerated hearing of the case in view of its urgency” Alhaji Azozo said while addressing newsmen in Minna in his reaction to the party reconciliatory committee.”
Asked why the campaign organisation was not obeying the decision of the national leadership of the party that those with cases in court should withdraw such cases, Azozo said “that directive is coming rather too late.
“You cannot beat a child and ask the child not to cry; it is impossible. We will not withdraw our case. We will see it to the end,” he declared.
According to him, “If our candidate lose in court, we will take it in good faith and work for the party, but we must challenge this injustice in court, there is nothing bad in going to court”.
He dismissed the insinuation that the state APC and Governor Abubakar Sani Bello were backing the Sani Musa campaign organisation saying that, “If they are backing us they know we are right and we have been cheated and that we have to fight for our rights”.
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Azozo accused the national leadership of the party of “doing things wrongly,” adding that “from my experience in party administration disciplinary and reconciliation committees should be put in place before party primaries and congresses, our party is just doing this now when it is rather too late.
“We will wait for the committee to come here, we will put our case before them but we will not withdraw the case in court, ” the Director General declared.
In the meantime the campaign office of the substituted candidate Alhaji Sani Musa had continued to be a beehive of activities.