Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Jalingo Local Government Area of Taraba State, on Monday, staged a peaceful protest against Saturday’s conduct of the party’s Local Government Congresses.
Spokesperson of the group, Alhaji Ahmed Hamza, told journalists that they had opted against the consensus arrangement at the Stakeholders meeting held with the local government congresses committee that came from Abuja.
Hamza said they were asked to wait at the party’s office where the election would be conducted but that none of the officials showed up.
“We are here as critical stakeholders of the APC in Jalingo to protest against what transpired during the local government congresses on Saturday.
“During the earlier meeting held with the committee, we insisted that we preferred open election to the consensus arrangement.
“We were then asked to proceed to the party office and wait for the officials who will come and conduct the congress. To our greatest surprise, none of them showed up till now as we speak.
“You need to understand that there are people who paid for forms to contest for various positions at this congress.
“What happens to them? They did not subscribe to the consensus arrangement and yet we were tricked out of the meeting and abandoned.
“The APC is an all-inclusive party and encourages collective participation. We would not sit back and allow one or two people to hijack the party for their selfish interests.
“As such, we have already prepared our petition and will proceed to the appeal committee as soon as it is appointed. This travesty cannot be allowed to stand,” Hamza said.
Reacting to the protest, the State Caretaker Committee of the party, Alhaji Ibrahim El-Sudi, explained that all the local government representatives at the critical stakeholders meeting adopted consensus in the presence of members of the Congress Committee that came for the purpose from Abuja.
El-Sudi wondered why this group was protesting, but said that the aggrieved group had a chance to present their protest to the Appeal Committee that would soon be sent from the party’s headquarters in Abuja.
He appealed for calm, assuring that all grievances would be amicably resolved.
