The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, has raised the alarm over the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress in Kano State, warning that the ruling party may lose the presidential election in the state in 2023.
Ado-Doguwa, at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, observed that Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had left the APC structure in Kano in the hands of those who were disorganising the party.
According to him, while the governor has governed the state well administratively, those he left to manage the party have frustrated loyal members out of it.
The lawmaker, who is representing Doguwa/Tudun Wada Federal Constituency in Kano State, questioned the loyalty of a former commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and deputy governorship candidate of the APC, Murtala Garo, an in-law to the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
Ado-Doguwa said, “It is my hope and it is the hope of the APC people in Nigeria that Bola can be able to discharge his duties; that Bola can be able to consolidate the gains earlier laid down by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I want to say today without any fear of contraction; without any fear of intimidation; without any fear of any quarter or any authority anywhere that there is fire on the mountain as far as the APC is concerned in Kano State. There is fire on the mountain – I repeat, there is fire on the mountain. This is the right time to say it because we have been going through a silent crisis especially in the area of party administration and politicking with a lot of intrigues and exclusion of members.
“Management and administration of the party is being done exclusively by a few members of the party who are, by all standing, not supposed to handle what they are handling in the APC. I want to say for the purpose of clarification that I am talking about party politics in Kano; in our party, the APC.
Campaign donation portal
Meanwhile, major political parties in the country have reacted to the opening of a fundraising website by the camp of the presidential flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The donation portal, which was christened bat-ksm.com, also contained the profiles of Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima; campaign videos and updated press releases of events.
The development is coming barely four weeks after the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, opened a similar fundraising and campaign site.
Obi, who made the announcement in a tweet via his verified Twitter handle, encouraged his supporters to visit the official website for the Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation and make their financial commitment through the platform.
But the former Anambra State governor was largely trolled on social media for creating a site with the sole intention of begging Nigerians for donation, despite having a reputation for not giving ‘shishi.’ (not doling out money)
When contacted, the Director of Media and Publicity for APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed that the website was indeed created for the former Lagos governor’s campaign.
Onanuga, however, told our correspondent that it had not been activated because it remained a “futuristic project”.
He said, “It has not been activated because the account details have not been uploaded. If you click the ‘Donate’ button on the site, you will discover that it has not been activated too.
“The website is dormancy state because the secretariat has not really agreed on whether they want donations from the public. It is only after such a decision is taken that we can put a bank account details on the website. So it is there on the internet. It is futuristic.”
When asked the reason for its inactive state, Onanuga noted that it has not received the blessings of the presidential candidate and his party.
“Number one, the candidate has to agree whether we should receive donations. The party has to also agree. Even if the party secretariat wants donations to be raised for the campaign, they will give us an account number.
“All those things you saw on the site are just futuristic buttons in case we need them. But as of now, it has not been activated yet,” he said.
Reacting to the drama, Obi’s media aide, Tai Emeka Obasi, described the act as hypocrisy on the part of Tinubu’s campaign team.
Obasi, who claimed he cannot blame anybody, stated that it was obvious his principal had set the pace for other candidates to follow ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
