INTERNAL PARTY DEMOCRACY IS ALLEGEDLY  UNDER ATTACK IN KADUNA STATE

By Abdu Jibrin Zaria

Information circulating within the state indicates that a week ahead of the Party congress,  the All Progressive Congress (APC) party leadership, in league with the state government, has Allegedly handpicked 5  delegates from every ward of the 23 local governments in the state. Thus, the number of delegates, now effectively ware used for the government preferred candidate, will be 1275 delegates.
A political analyst, Yusuf Ibrahim Gambo in an interview disclosed that sources close to the state government indicated that the government has concluded arrangements to allegedly undermine Internal party democracy to favor its preferred candidate for the gubernatorial primary election, alleging that, at the head of the collectives running the hoax, is the Secretary to the Secretary to the State Government ( SSG), Balarabe Abbas. 
According to him, what is more, curious about the likely crisis that will erupt if this information is legit, is the allegation that this alleged undemocratic move had got the approval of the National leadership of the party in Abuja and, that a substantial amount has been disbursed to support the scheme. 
Another source has independently drawn attention to speculation that even members of the primary election appeal committee were allegedly being handpicked from the office of Governor Nasiru El-Rufa’i and that they are all leading members of the Senator Uba Sani campaign directorate, the Governor’s preferred candidate. 
It was further alleged that in a meeting, the party leadership had unilaterally decided to jettison the statutory scheme of delegates selection replacing it with a scheme in which the process of selecting delegates is now placed under the caprices of some collectives within the state government and state party leadership. 
A source privy to the scheme alleged that the whole scheme is to ensure that the candidate that will emerge at the primary election will effectively cover up the Governor’s trials especially his footprints in the colossal amount of debt he took on behalf of the state which, according to the source, he mismanaged and squandered. 
The source further alleged that part of this loan is now set aside to be used in manipulating the election and dispelling any opposition against the dangerous scheme. A leading member of the collectives designing this scheme is already bursting about this. 
Yusuf Gambo alleged that considering the extent to which the general electorate is opposed to the harsh policies of Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i, any candidate that could be seen as picked by the Governor will surely mean an easy sail to capture power by the PDP in the state. 
“Given the likely consequences of this undemocratic  move, we call on the national party leadership of our great party, the APC to, as a matter of urgency, intervene to avert the crisis that this move will cause the party and its success in the general election.” He said