By Abiola Olawale
The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued to take dramatic twists and turns as a faction of the party in Ward, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, Kano State, on Sunday announced the purported suspension of the party’s National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.
In the early hours of Sunday, the ward executives of the faction which claimed to be the legitimate executives, announced that they had purportedly suspended Ganduje.
Addressing newsmen, the secretary of the faction, Ja’afar Ganduje, who spoke on behalf of 11 other executive members, said Ganduje was purportedly suspended over alleged anti-party activities.
He alleged that the APC National Chairman has been working against the party, particularly during the last general election. He also alleged that Ganduje had failed to pay his statutory dues to the party.
He further blamed Ganduje for contributing to the factionalization of the party at the ward level, which he said had brought the party to disrepute.
He said: “We are the authentic executives of Ganduje ward and we have passed a vote of no confidence and imposed a new suspension on Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje for a series of reasons.
“First, we have suspended Dr. Ganduje’s membership for creating internal conflict among party members at the ward level.
“Another major reason why the authentic executives resolved to suspend Ganduje is the issue of anti-party activities he generated during the 2023 elections which resulted in the party’s failure in the state,” he said.
The New Diplomat reports that this development came after Ganduje ward’s Legal Adviser, Haladu Gwanjo, last week announced the purported suspension of Ganduje.
Gwanjo, who cited alleged corruption and other vices as reasons for the suspension, said that the decision was taken by nine executive members of the party in Ganduje ward.
However, the move was quickly quelled by the state branch of the party who suspended the ward executives for their roles.
The party’s ward chairman, Ahmad Ganduje, also declared support for Ganduje, saying the ward officials were satisfied with his leadership style.
In passing the vote of confidence on Ganduje, the chairman urged all party members in the ward and across the state to remain calm and law-abiding.
It would be recalled that the troubles of Ganduje began when the Kano State government dragged him, his wife, son, and five others to court over alleged corruption and misappropriation of public funds.
The former Governor was accused of collecting a $400,000 kickback from a contractor. The government also accused Ganduje of criminal conspiracy, misappropriation, diversion of public funds, and bribery, to the tune of N1.3 billion.
