Paraded defectors not our members – Kaduna APC A leader of the All Progressives Congress in Kaduna State, Air Vice Marshal Aliyu Rufai(retd), has said that the party may engage the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, in a legal battle for deceiving Nigerians as regards the defection of some politicians in the state. The Peoples Democratic Party had recently received some politicians who claimed to have defected from the APC and other political parties in the state to the PDP. Specifically, the political parties under the aegis of the G-23 Alliance had claimed that they defected to the PDP with their teeming supporters that were well over 5000. The G-23 Alliance Chairman, Alhaji Inuwa Ahmed, had in a statement said following an exhaustive discussion with the ruling party, 23 parties that defected to the party had agreed to deploy structure to boost the PDP fortunes in the 2015 elections in the state. He had said, “As a result of exhaustive and far- reaching consultations and discussions, 23 political parties have agreed to take their massive structure to the PDP. What is about to happen shall look like a political tsunami in the state which shall serve as a watershed that will strengthen democracy, unity and peace.” However, Rufai, who is also the Chairman of the Integrity Merger Network within the APC in the state, at a press conference on Sunday in the state capital accused the PDP of bringing together political parties de-registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission to deceive Nigerians. “We will take them(defectors) to court. Those that defected to the PDP are 419,” he said. The group also said that those who allegedly defected from the APC to the PDP at an elaborate ceremony in Kaduna last week were members of the PDP who left the party to other parties that are no longer existing and decided to return to the PDP. Meanwhile, Rufai had alleged that some members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change were out to destabilise the APC in the state. He also warned against any attempt to change the Interim leadership in the state, noting that the party (APC) was widely accepted by a majority of the electorate in the state. He said “any intrigue and dissension at this point will only work against the consolidation and smooth take -off of the registration exercise whose timetable is already out. The IMN will not fold its arms and allow any individual or groups to make Kaduna state lag behind in any form whatsoever in this noble and all- important exercise. “We therefore call on the national party officers and leadership to stop all forms of indiscipline, dissensions and other provocative attitudes by those individuals and groups at the national, zonal and state levels and take disciplinary measures against such disgruntled elements. Rufai also warned against the imposition of candidates on the electorate, saying that it would no longer accept a repeat of the situation when the defunct CPC imposed candidates on the electorate during the 2011 general elections in the state. He said, “We wish to reiterate our position on zero tolerance to the imposition of candidates without compliance with internal democracy. Those that were imposed on the electorate especially in the CPC election of 2011 have failed to realise that this time round, it is no longer business as usual.” Copyright PUNCH.All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. Contact: editor@punchng January 28, 2014 at 12:00AM
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 23:40:04 +0000
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