AD Splits Over Presidential Candidate

SOME of the zonal officers of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) has reacted to the recent announcement made by its national chairman, Mojisola Akinfenwa, over the withdrawal of the party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Rafiu Salauddeen, dismissing it as baseless and not binding on them.

  Arising from the emergency meeting convened by the National Vice Chairman of Northwest zone of the party, Abdallah Ibrahim, in Kano, recently, officials from North West, North Central, South South, South East and North East, said Akinfenwa did not consult all the principal stakeholders of the party before making his announcement.

   Ibrahim revealed that Akinfenwa singlehandedly advanced the idea that was never discussed at the leadership level of the party. “What he did was uncalled for and dismissible as far as we are concerned Mr. Rafiu Salauddeen is still our presidential candidate. And anybody who deals with Mr. Akinfenwa on such matter is doing that at his or her own peril,” he said.

      The meeting blamed the national chairman as not fit to enter into any agreement on behalf of the party, because his tenure has since expired as a national chairman. Ibrahim further challenged that, “Akinfenwa signed other agreements in 2007 and 2010, so for him to also signed in 2015 is totally in contradiction with the constitutional provision of the party.”

  He alleged that Akinfenwa has overstayed his tenure as the national chairman and should step down. 

   The party according to the meeting has never had proper convention since the assumption of Akinfenwa as the national chairman. That was why the remaining officers that held the meeting believed that he had a personal agenda in the whole process.

  “Akinfenwa should remind himself that ab initio the leadership of the party was designed to rotate among the six geo-political zones. So, why is he holding on to it up to this time?

  With all the disagreement between the national chairman and other officials in the party Ibrahim believes that there was no faction in the party. “AD has no faction and will not have one in future. This is not the time for creating faction within the party. We are going to have an authentic convention immediately after the general election facing us,” said the national vice chairman.