In a statement issued by the party Sunday, the State Chairman of the party, Alhaji Isah Sadiq Achida, who referred a publication in one of the dailies, that the Senator had purchased APC guber nomination forms from the party headquarters, said Gada is not a card-carrying member of the party.
“The Sokoto State branch of the APC wishes to state categorically that as far as APC Sokoto is concerned, Senator Abubakar Gada is NOT a card carrying member of the APC. It is therefore a surprise that he has even gone as far as attempting to run for Governorship! Even if he carries any APC card, we doubt its authenticity and may have been fraudulently acquired, because it is nowhere in our records.
“The last we heard of him in Sokoto State politics, was in 2011 when he made a failed attempt to run for the Senate. He has never participated in any meetings or activities of the APC in Sokoto State, neither has he ever attended any Stakeholders meeting hosted by the Sokoto State Chapter of the APC.
“We are however aware that he is one of the several ‘absentee politicians’ in Abuja instigating trouble for our party against which the party is determined to deal with him,” the statement read.
Achida therefore requested that the National secretariat of the party rejects the forms until Gada came to register with the party at his ward, adding that doing otherwise would amount to impunity.
“In view of the foregoing, I wish to request our National Headquarters to reject his gubernatorial contest forms and advise him to come home and register if he wishes to participate in APC affairs in Sokoto State.
“To do otherwise will amount to encouraging impunity, crowning injustice and refusal to appreciate the efforts of loyal party members at home who have been toiling and sacrificing for our success,” he added.
However, in a reaction to APC’s statement, Sen. Abubakar Gada stated that as far as he was concerned, there was no APC structure in the state with the defection of governor Aminu Tambuwal, who according to him, had left with more than 70 percent of the party officials.
The Senator in a statement by his Media Aide, Mr. Uche Nnaji insisted that those claiming to be leaders of the party in the state could not claim to have composed themselves based on extant laws of the APC, the electoral and Nigeria’s constitution.
“It is now certain that there is no APC structure in Sokoto state today. Aminu Tambuwal left the party with more than 70 percent of the structures. One now wonders where the so-called APC structure is, as it is. The new stakeholders of the party has already made their representations to the National Headquarters for a caretaker committee in order to salvage the party from the excessive abuse of those who were opportune to be at the helm of affairs of the party. As of today there is no structure and whoever assumes that there is, is deceiving himself.
“The National Headquarters of the party should beware of those whose actions may undermine the integrity of the future leaders of the party. There is nothing wrong with facing the reality that there is no structure and there is nothing wrong for us to come together and restructure a party that will genuinely strengthen it.
“The structure of the party as it is now is null, void and of no effect whatsoever. This has to be legalized, legitimized and strengthened in order to guarantee respect for the extant laws of the party and the constitution. The 10 percent structure that Tambuwal left does not form any corum. If anybody sits in his room and write numbers as executive council members that is the worst form of hallucination. No formal structure of the party in Sokoto state. Tambuwal moved with over 70 percent EXCO to the PDP,” Gada posited.
He added that key members of the party had made representation at the APC headquarters on restructuring the party. “Genuine members like Sen. Umaru Dahiru Tambuwal, Alhaji Ummaru Kwabo, Sen. Abubakar Gada, among others have made formal representation at the National Headquarters on how the party could be restructured in the state.”
Gada further claimed that those claiming to be leaders of the party could not provide the original membership register because, according to him, those registers were now in the hands of governor Tambuwal.
“If they talk about membership, where is the membership registers? Nowhere but in the hands of Tambuwal. We are aware they don’t have the registers with them now. So, what membership are they talking about? If you enter the APC today, nothing distinguishes you with someone with whom the party was formed. If people are ignorant of the APC constitution; of the constitution of the country; of their rights, that is unfortunate. I challenge anyone to produce the original register of members,” the reaction further read.
Gada made reference to Senator Aliyu Wamakko, Governors Ortom and Bagudu of Benue and Kebbi states when they defected to and became governors at the time they were not members of the parties they defected to.
“Wamakko should remember that when he left for the PDP in 2007, he had no membership card of the party when he was given the ticket to contest governorship under the party. This scenario is found in Kebbi state where present governor Bagudu left the PDP and the APC gave him a ticket to contest governorship. The same applied to Ortom in Benue state when the PDP denied him the ticket he left for the APC which gave him the ticket,” he stated.
On whether he was a party member or not, Gada stated that he defected to the APC along with national leaders of the party during John Odigie-Oyegun.
“The records are there when Senator Gada decamped to the APC along with national leaders. They were prestigiously received into the party by the NWC led by the immediate past Chairman, Chief Oyegun. That was a privilege no decampee from the state ever enjoyed,” he stated.
