A group has alleged a plan to impose a candidate after the senatorial primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC), scheduled for Monday, did not hold in the Adamawa Central Zone.
The group, under the banner of Central Senatorial Zone APC Elders, has alerted President Bola Tinubu to an alleged plot by leaders of the party in the state to buy time and prepare a favoured aspirant for the senatorial contest.
The state chapter of the party had issued a statement ahead of the scheduled date of the senatorial primary, announcing a postponement of the exercise in the Central Zone.
The statement, signed by the state APC Publicity Secretary, Victor Dogo, said the postponement was due to logistical reasons, a justification that has been viewed with scepticism by many.
The APC elders allege a plan by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, who leads the party in the state, to impose a candidate, notably the incumbent Senator Aminu Iya Abbas.
Iya Abbas had long been known to be aspiring for the office of governor rather than a return to the Senate.
At a press conference on Tuesday in Yola, spokesman of the group of elders, Alhaji Mohammed Song, said, “Senator Iya Abbas was contesting for governor. He toured all the local government areas, but after screening of aspirants, we learnt that Abbas is now contesting for Senate, how?”
Song added that after observing that Yola North LGA, the heart of the capital, has never produced a senator in the current democratic dispensation and had endorsed Alhaji Aliyu Abbati from the LGA, the group of elders observed an unfolding plot to disrupt the prospects.
“Abbati is the only aspirant that goes to all the seven local government areas of Central Adamawa, we have not seen any aspirant coming to us that he is contesting,” he said.
Song urged President Tinubu to intervene promptly over these allegations and earlier claims of imposition, especially after the House of Representatives primaries on Saturday, warning that alleged underhand dealings by some party leaders could harm the party’s chances and those of the President in the general elections in the state.
In response to the allegations, Governor Fintiri has insisted on his innocence, saying that the primary elections so far have been generally credible.
“The few hitches have been due to human error, which is normal. I believe we have delivered a credible process,” the governor asserted.
