January 6, 2014

We’ve Not Endorsed Kwankwaso As APC Leader – Shekarau

The Shekarau faction of the
defunct All Nigeria Peoples
Party (ANPP) in Kano has
distanced itself from endorsing
Governor Kwankwaso as leader
of All Progressives Congress
(APC) in the state by former
presidential candidate of the
defunct National Republican
Convention, NRC, Alhaji Bashir
Othman Tofa, party state
secretary, Rabiu Bako and
others.

Speaking during a press
conference held at Malam
Ibrahim Shekarau's residence in
Kano, Chairman of the defunct
ANPP, Alhaji Sani Hashim Hotoro
disclosed that the group that paid
courtesy to governor Kwankwaso
and identified with him as APC
leader were on their own.

According to him, Alhaji Othman
Tofa was an elder in the party,
old ANPP who had previously
declined to serve in the merger
committee of the ANPP.

He added that members of ANPP
in the state had written to APC
national secretariat conveying
their concern and the way
forward, saying they were waiting
the national body of APC to
respond.

He said, "It is in the public
knowledge that, members of the
APC coming from the defunct
ANPP Kano state, have on
December 18, 2013 under former
Kano governor, Malam Ibrahim
Shekarau delivered a letter to the
APC interim leadership in Abuja
conveying our concern and the
way forward.

"We requested for a clarification
of the rumour going round that
the five aggrieved new PDP
governors who decided to
decamp to APC did so as a result
of an alleged agreement they
reached with a section of the APC
leadership that they will be given
special privileges that are clearly
against all fairness and
democratic norms".

According to him, the alleged
privilege included state
leadership of the party automatic
tickets for all their members of
the state and the national
assemblies and also handling the
registration of members.

Hotoro said that all the privileges
were rejected by the APC
members of the merging parties
in all the affected five states.

He further maintained that as far
as ANPP faction of APC was
concerned, Malam Ibrahim
Shekarau is the leader of the
party in the state, according to
him they have no intention
whatsoever to decamp to any
other party claiming that they
would remain in APC pending the
outcome of the letter sent to the
national secretariat of the party.