The ruling All Progressives Congress on Wednesday issued a disclaimer to disown one of its support groups under the umbrella of the APC Youth Vanguard ahead of the 2023 general election.
The APC described the group’s members as hirelings working for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party against former Chief of Air Staff and Bauchi governorship candidate, Air Marshal Abubakar Sadique (retd.).
This is as the Coordinator of the support group, Sarafadeen Rauf, swore that they were innocent of the allegation, adding that the APC Youth Vanguard was duly registered with the party since 2014.
In a dramatic U-turn, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, disowned the APC National Youth Vanguard, describing its members as agents of the opposition party.
Morka made the statement in a disclaimer issued at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja on Wednesday.
The statement read, “Ahead of the 2023 governorship election in Bauchi State, the PDP has set its hirelings on the prowl masquerading as an the “APC support group”, spreading hate and deception against the APC and its governorship flag bearer in the state.
“Under thin and false cover as the “APC Youth Vanguard”, these elements have launched calumnious attacks, including a spurious petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against the former Chief of Air Staff, Sadique, thr governorship candidate of the APC in Bauchi State, and his wife, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar.”
The party’s image maker disclosed that the move was necessitated by a petition authored by one Mohammed Dikko on behalf of the “APC Youth Vanguard.”
Explaining further, Morka noted that the petition made bogus and unsubstantiated allegation of a plot by its governorship candidate to engage in acts of electoral impropriety.
“To be clear, the purported ‘APC group’ is a phoney, unknown, and bearing no affiliation, whatsoever, with our party or its registered support groups.
“While the PDP has every reason to be anxious and jittery about its rather bleak prospects ahead of the Bauchi State governorship election given its government’s dismal performance, resorting to guile and subterfuge is beyond the pale.
“The good people of Bauchi State will not be taken in by the PDP’s lies and deception howsoever packaged or delivered.”
Reacting to the report in a phone interview, Rauf expressed shock at the turn of event, saying there must be a mistake somewhere.
He told our correspondent that the leadership had not written them on the alleged crime before releasing the disparaging statement.
Still reeling from the shock, he said, “I am a bonafide member of the party and cannot work for the PDP. That is not possible. The APC Youth Vanguard has been registered with the party since 2014 and were given another certification in 2019 under the leadership of former youth leader, Lado Suleja, who is now in the House of Representatives.
“So at what point did we suddenly become part of the PDP? It is just not possible. There is no way we could have worked for the PDP. Everybody knows I am a 100 per cent Tinubu man to the core.”
The coordinator vowed to reach the deputy organising secretary at the national secretariat immediately to clear his name before calling a press conference.
He also believed that the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led APC must have mistaken his support group with a similar one under the aegis of APC National Youths Vanguard.
“Although we have structures in 19 states but we have none in Bauchi that seems to be creating problem as alleged. We don’t even have a coordinator in the state. So our initiative couldn’t have done anything contrary to the statutes of the party.”
The drama is coming barely 24 hours after another group under the aegis of Accountability and Democratic Project petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission demanding Sadique’s disqualification from the race for 2023 governorship election.
