Abdullahi, who represents the Umaisha/Ugya constituency, and Ogazi, who represents the Kokona East constituency, declared interest in the Speakership position of the 7th Assembly immediately after the 2023 general elections were concluded and started mobilising for support from the 24 members-elect of the Assembly.
However, a crisis broke out on June 6, 2023 when the members-elect were to collectively elect a new Speaker for the Assembly, which led to the sealing of the complex by officers of the state police command.
Speaking on behalf of APC stakeholders in Karu, the Chairman of the LGA, James Thomas, described Abdullahi as the duly elected Speaker of the Assembly, urging him not to be distracted by the actions of other members-elect who are bent on causing a crisis in the Assembly.
Thomas chided a former Chairman of the LGA, Samuel Akala, for working against the wishes of members of the APC in the state by supporting Ogazi to cause disaffection among members of the party in the Assembly.
He said, “We want to state on record that the 7th Assembly has since been inaugurated with Rt. Hon. Ibrahim Balarabe Abdullahi as the Speaker. His emergence was a true reflection of the will of the duly inaugurated members of the Assembly.
“However, it beats our imagination that Hon. Samuel Akala, a former Chairman of Karu LGA and immediate past Special Adviser to Governor Abdullahi Sule, could organise a press conference, casting aspersion on the person of our Executive Governor and misleading the public on the true happenings in the state with regards to the State Assembly Elections.
“To us and many others who know him, his recent show of betrayal to the party is not surprising because Akala has always been an arrogant and ungrateful element.
“We, therefore, want to use this press conference to distance ourselves on behalf of the good people of Karu LGA from the utterances made by the former Chairman of our Local Government Area against our amiable and hardworking governor.”
While calling on the leadership of the APC in the state to sanction Akala for his misdeeds, Thomas called on all residents of the state to give Abdullahi and Governor Abdullahi Sule the needed support to succeed in their assignments.
