By Amos Tauna:
Kaduna State Chairman, Reformed All Progressives Congress, RAPC, Col. A. D. Gora (rtd), has lamented that the emergence of the factional party is the failure of the ruling party, APC, to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.
Briefing newsmen in Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria, Gora said, “You are all aware of the reasons informing the emergence of the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) from the All Progressives Congress (APC). You are equally aware of how different political platforms collapsed to form the APC prior to the 2015 general elections. Sadly, the yearnings and aspirations of our people have not come to fruition both at the national level and in our dear Kaduna State in particular.
“Our people entrusted power to the APC based on its promises and potentials. We were made to believe that we were dealing with democrats, and so we entrusted them with our votes, little did we know that we were casting our votes to unleash the worse form of dictatorship on the hapless people of Kaduna State. As far as the politics of the North is concerned, Kaduna remains the bastion of democracy.
“Today, those ideals of democracy which include the right to vote and be voted for in free, fair and credible elections have all been stultified. The votes of the electorates no longer matter as there is no compliance with the Electoral Act.
“The dictatorship and its cronics, apologies and sundry criminally minded characters have arrogated to themselves the power to sit wherever is convenient to them to draw up list of winners of elections which never took place. This was the case with the 3-Man non-elective delegates election, the Ward Congresses and the fraudulent Local Government polls. Fundamentally there can be no democracy without the people. Any politician worth his/her salt must go to the people to seek their votes; anything short of this is fraudulent.
“The schism in the old Progressives Congress began to manifest not long after the swearing-in ceremonies in 2015 when it became apparent that many of the people who invested their time, resources and good will were abandoned in a political wilderness.
“There were complains, petitions to the APC National Headquarters which were swept under the carpet or shredded sending a clear message that the petitioners/complainants were no longer required in the Party.
“As a result of disagreements within the Party, parallel congresses were held in not less than 24 States namely; Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross Rivers, Delta, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ondo, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto and Zamfara. These Congresses in Wards and Local Governments all over the Federation produced different sets of delegates. We therefore had a situation where the Party was seriously factionalized, in the 36 States and the FCT.
“Article 20(1) of the APC Constitution States, “unless otherwise provided for all Party posts prescribed or implied by this Constitution shall be filled by democratically conducted elections”. This was not the case in all the Party elections in the State.
“Even before these illegal exercises, which have alienated many members, there has been wide spread disenchantment with the manner the Party has ran particularly in Kaduna State.
“Perceived opponents of the State Government have been systematically been targeted as demonstrated by the demolition of properties of the then APC Vice Chairman North West Zone along Yakubu Avenue as well as No. 11B Sambo Road Kaduna.”
“The Government believes in intimidating its perceived opponents using rouged elements in the uniform of the security forces, and when it is expedient hired thugs under its pay-roll in this circumstances, who is safe in our State?
The Reformed All Progressive Congress in the state lamented that the government of El-Rufai seeks to blackmail critics by calling them names that are demeaning, adding that, “The government consistently being saying that the opponents are only seeking that the State funds be shared to them while also accusing them of being power seekers.
“While people oriented projects have been commissioned in other more focused States, there are no such projects which will impact positively on the lives of our people. The campaign slogan of making Kaduna State great again is therefore a huge fraud.”
With this development, RAPC observed, “Our followership are fore-warned of the possibilities of more harassment, intimidation and blackmail as a survival strategy by the Government but because we are focused we must therefore collectively stand together, so that we can wither the storm.
“The case of Kaduna State is particularly pathetic, given that prominent and founding members of the Party in the State including two Distinguished Senators were no longer found worthy of consultation in the Party and the Governance process. The worse form of arrogance has been on display since assumption of office of the present State Government. Worse of it all, the APC State Executive became an appendage of the State Government and therefore rendered ineffectual.
“Our revered traditional rulers have been shown complete contempt, our educational system is in complete chaos and the civil service which used to be the envy of other States is now lying prostrate. Thousands of civil servants sacked without their entitlements paid. The above exemplifies the recklessness of the present government of Kaduna State.”
He assured that the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) would work with like-minded political parties and platforms to offer good governance to the people come 2019.
“We will in concert with others offer real change to Kaduna State; we are done with this fake change which the APC has offered to our party, while we despire we are yet hopeful that with you (the people) behind us we shall salvage our Sate and make it truly Great Again,” he assured.
https://www.africaprimenews.com/2018/06/29/news/nigeria-2019-kaduna-gubernatorial-aspirant-ashiru-picks-pdp-card/
