Kaduna APC faction queries El-Rufai, suspends aides for 18 months as crisis deepens

Another crisis appears to have emerged in the Kaduna State Chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as a faction, APC Kaduna Restoration Group, says it has suspended three chieftains of the party and issued a query to the state governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, over what it called ‘anti-party activities.’

Also, the faction said it had relocated the secretariat of the party along Ali Akilu Road, Kaduna, to Sambo Close, Kaduna, saying that the decision was necessary to rescue APC from government control and abuse, which it said, had allegedly led to dwindling influence of the party.

The factional chairman, Alhaji Shuaibu Danladi Wada, who spoke at a press conference yesterday, insisted that he is the constitutionally-recognised state Acting Chairman of the party.

He said the need to relocate the state secretariat of the party was due to the constant harassment of party members considered as threats to the interest of a few in the party.

Besides, Wada stated that while El-Rufai had been issued a query for anti-party activities, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Politics and Inter-governmental Affairs, Malam Uba Sani; the Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Abdu Kwari and the Acting State Secretary of the party, Yahaya Baba Pate, had been suspended for 18 months for similar offences.

He said: “The decision to relocate as approved by the majority members of the state executive committee becomes necessary so as to create a harmonious working condition considering the unprecedented manner by which some politicians have permanently deployed thugs that invaded the former address harassing and intimidating and beating innocent officers.

“Also, we decided to take disciplinary measures on some of our members after thorough investigations in accordance with the party’s constitution and we have found them to be deserving of some punitive measures.

Meanwhile, the state government has dismissed the query and suspension, saying that it will not be swayed by the antics of drowning political traders.

El-Rufai, in a statement signed by his media aide, Samuel Aruwan, said “no one will pay heed to the attention-seeking gambits of desperate politicians who have steadily been demystified.”

It warned that rascally actions being undertaken by these traders in the hope of getting a lifeline from reconciliation moves would not be rewarded.

The statement said, among others: “The APC Government of Kaduna State has boldly lived up to its manifesto commitments and principles to the people. In this work, it continues to enjoy the firm support of the APC state executive, which is united and committed to the hardwork of bringing sustainable change.”