Niger gov tells APC aspirants to resign

PDP threatens suit over Plateau Reps seat by-election
As the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Niger State prepares to conduct its congress on Saturday, October 16, Governor Abubakar Bello has directed all political appointees wishing to contest any position at the party level to resign.

Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ahmed Matane, in a statement, yesterday, noted that the measure was in accordance with the APC constitution.

The statement also mandated the appointees to submit their resignation letters to the office of SSG with immediate effect.

In another development, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State has threatened to sue the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the by-election for Jos North/Bassa seat in the House of Representatives.

The party expects an explanation for the delay to fix a date for the by-election, as the last occupant of the seat died in an accident over six months ago.

Addressing newsmen in Jos yesterday, the State Publicity Secretary of the party, John Akans, said INEC ought to have conducted the by-election since, in line with the provision of the constitution and Electoral Act.

According to Akans, the PDP will not hesitate to take legal action against INEC, if it fails to fix a date for the election because Jos North/Bassa people are left without a representative for the past six months.

“INEC has gone beyond the required time to conduct the election as done in other federal constituencies,” he added.

On the recent local council election, in which APC won all the chairmanship and councillorship seats, Akans said the power of the people was clearly displayed in action across the 325 electoral wards of Plateau where majority of the electorate boycotted the exercise over the exclusion of the PDP by the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC).

“We, therefore, appreciate the people of the state for their protest of the unlawful exclusion of PDP. We assure Plateau people that these antics of desperate politicians, who are already intimidated and threatened by the rising popularity of the PDP, would be vehemently resisted,” he added.

Akans pointed out that the announcement of winners by PLASIEC and the action of Governor Simon Lalong could only be described as executive rascality, adding that the council poll was the worst in the history of Nigeria.

“In a warfare, a battle is either won or lost. As a party that respects the rule of law, we are pursuing our course to participate in the local council elections at the Court of Appeal. We expected that PLASIEC would have waited for the decision of the Court of Appeal on this matter. It is surprising to see that PLASIEC, which is a party to the suit and was well represented in court, announced its appointees as winners when the matter was adjourned for November 22, 2021.”