The
Action Congress of Nigeria has denied selling the bid of its 2011
presidential candidate, Nuhu Ribadu, to the Peoples Democratic Party.The
embattled chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the ACN, Mohammed
Soba, had on Friday accused the national leader of the party of selling
the candidature of its presidential flag bearer in the 2011 election to
President Goodluck Jonathan, who was PDP’s candidate, for $100m (N16bn).
In
his reaction to the allegation, the National Publicity Secretary of the
ACN, Lai Mohammed, described it as “absolute nonsense,” and challenged
Soba to approach the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, if he had
proof to substantiate his claim.He
said, “The allegation is absolute nonsense. It’s just a reaction of a
person who wants to sit-tight on a position from which he has been duly
removed. He has not only been removed from being the chairman of ACN in
Kaduna State, he has also been suspended from the party.
“Why
doesn’t he just approach the EFCC, if he thinks he is sure of what he
is saying? Why he came out with this is because I issued a statement
that we were going to court to stop the Kaduna State Independent
Electoral Commission from conducting local government elections in the
state because they are dealing with a faction of the party that has been
rejected.”Efforts
to get Presidency’s reaction on Saturday were not successful as the
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben
Abati, did not pick calls made to his mobile number.
It
would be recalled that Jonathan surprisingly won with wide margin in
the South-West states controlled by the ACN, except Osun State, where
Ribadu managed a narrow lead.
Jonathan
got as much as 1, 281, 688 votes as against Ribadu’s 427, 203 votes in
Lagos State, which is considered the ACN’s stronghold, fueling rumours
of an alleged last-minute accord between the ACN and PDP, especially
after the merger between the ACN and the Congress for Progressive
Change, led by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) failed.
According
to an online news portal, Sahara Reporters, Soba claimed he was being
witch-hunted for asking them to explain why they sold the bid for the
presidency.
He
added, “We challenge Lai Mohammed and the national secretary of the
party, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, to tell the whole world why state chapters
like Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia, Cross Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Nassarawa,
Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba and Kaduna states
are all facing national leadership induced crises.”
Soba
also described as empty, the threats by the ACN national leadership to
sue the KSIEC for recognising him, insisting that he remains the
chairman of the state chapter of the party.
NAIJA PUNDIT
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