Adamawa APC gets officials from parallel congresses 

The crisis in the Adamawa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) deepened yesterday, as both the Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow faction and the President Muhammadu Buhari camp, headed by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. David Babachir Lawal, organised peaceful parallel state congresses.

Two serving senators, Abdulazil Nyako and Abubakar Mo-Allah, alongside former senators and former governor Murtala Nyako’s supporters participated in the Lawal faction’s congress and elected Mr. Dimas Ezra, from Adamawa Central zone as chairman.

At the Governor Bindow congress, the acting chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Bilal, was returned as chairman, alongside other former officials, apart from the secretary, who was replaced by former state Assembly member, Mr. Wafarninyi Theman, who defected recently from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Chairman of the Buhari supporters congress committee and former Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, Alhaji Hassan Turaki, said the emergence of Dimas, as state chairman, is in line with APC’s rules of balancing party positions between the Christian and Muslim religion.

“We have a Muslim as governor who is from the northern zone. So, to balance the power allocation in the state, the party chairman should be a Christian and from another zone, so that both Christians and Muslims in the state will have equal representation in the party,” he stated.

“Dimas is from the central zone. The deputy governor who is a Christian is from the southern zone. And the governor, a Muslim, is from the northern zone. So, all the zones and religions are equally represented. That is the best way to handle party politics in a democratic government,” he said. 
 
The Bindow faction returned Bilal, a Muslim from the same northern zone as the governor. Current SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha, who is a staunch supporter of the Bindow group, commended the exercise, assuring APC faithful that the party is fully prepared to retain power in 2019.