APC upturns Ganduje's suspension, slams six-month on ward exco

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The All Progressives Congress, APC, Kano State chapter, has upturned the purported suspension of the party’s National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, by the leadership of his ward in the Dawakin Tofa Local Government of Kano State.

The Legal Adviser of the Ganduje ward, Halliru Gwanjo, at a press briefing in Kano on Monday, had declared Ganduje suspended from the party over alleged corruption.

Gwanjo linked the suspension to Ganduje’s bribery charges, involving $413,000 and N1.38bn, filed by the Kano State Government against him and his arraignment scheduled for Thursday, April 18 before the Kano State High Court.

According to him, “We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him.”

He said the National Chairman of the APC will remain suspended as a member of the ward until he exonerates himself of all the corruption charges slammed against him.

“As the leaders of the APC in Ganduje ward, Dawakin Tofa Local Government, we engaged in thorough deliberations and subsequently decided to suspend the immediate past governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, over the allegations of bribery involving foreign currency.

“We are aware that Ganduje has been summoned to court to answer for the accusations, a development we believe can affect the reputation of our esteemed political party.

“So, we have resolved to pass a vote of no confidence in Ganduje and to collectively on behalf of all executive members of the APC in Ganduje ward, Dawakin Tofa suspend him, until he clears himself and his family at the court,” he said.

The ward legal adviser said the leadership of the party at the Ganduje ward level was being subjected to unnecessary embarrassment from the New Nigeria People’s Party over unsubstantiated allegations of corruption levelled against Ganduje’s administration.

“As a result we deem it fit to sack the national chairman to enable him to concentrate on the litigation and other issues to clear his image and that of his family,” Gwanzo said.

According to him, President Bola Tinubu, who is the national leader of the APC, has demonstrated commitment to the fight against corruption, pointing out that the allegations of corruption against Ganduje may affect the President’s efforts.

But the Kano State Chapter of the APC has upturned Ganduje’s suspension and instead slammed a six-month suspension on the Ganduje ward executive members.

The Kano State APC Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas, said the party adopted the decisions of the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Local Government APC leadership, which suspended the ward executives.

The Kano APC chairman said the party had found out that the ward executives would announced Ganduje’s suspension were working for the ruling NNPP in Kano State.

“We have evidence of meetings between the state government officials and those that suspended the National Chairman, and the State Working Committee has agreed to sanction them for six months and they stand for now Suspended,” Abbas said.

Also, the national leadership of the APC in Abuja dismissed Ganduje’s suspension by the ward, saying the party’s National Working Committee was not carried along.

This was even as some NWC members alleged that the move must have been orchestrated by the Kano State government and the hierarchy of the New Nigerian People’s Party in the state.

The National Legal Adviser of the APC, Prof. Abdulkareem Kana, described the development as a foul play from the ruling NNPP government in Kano.

He said, “There is nothing like suspension anywhere. It is the NNPP that is playing a prank and this is a very dangerous game they are playing. This is coming from me as a member of the APC NWC. No organ or structure of the party is involved in this so-called suspension.

“We don’t even know the ward party leaders involved. Let them go and check our Constitution to see what it says about the suspension of members more so the National Chairman of the APC. Before a member can be said to be suspended, the NWC must approve it and, in the case of the national chairman, the NEC must also approve.

“How can a ward just wake up one day and announce that it has suspended the national chairman? So my official reaction to this rumour is this: First, it is not true that anything like that happens. Secondly, they don’t have the capacity to do that. So it is just nonsense talk.”

His position was shared by the Senior Special Assistant to the APC National Chairman on Public Enlightenment, Chief Oliver Okpala.

Okpala claimed those pushing for the suspension of the party’s national chairman were dissident members who were being used by the NNPP government.

“Those behind the alleged suspension are dissident members who have no locus. They are no more than political thugs being used to cause disaffection in the party. But I am glad the Kano APC has put the record straight by voiding the baseless propaganda and casting aspersions on the perpetrators.

“You can even tell the bias and vindictive nature of the Kano government from the manner the probe panel against the national chairman is being set up. It is a clear indication that the NNPP government will stop at nothing, even trying to infiltrate the rank and file of the APC at state and ward levels. But it cannot hold any water.”