Aspirants, who are waiting for refunds from the All
Progressives Congress after stepping down at the March 26 national convention
of the party, may have to keep waiting as the Presidency has said the
President, Muhammadu Buhari, only “advised” the APC to
refund aspirants who stepped down.
In an interview with Channels Television, the Senior Special
Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said Buhari
only advised the party to refund the aspirants.
“In the case of the chairmanship aspirants, there was a
consensus agreement and the President said, ‘Party, I advise you’, not that he
directed. He advised the party to return the money to those that agreed to the
consensus plan,” Shehu stated
The APC had at its March 26 convention called on aspirants, whose names did not appear on the unity list, to jettison their ambitions.
Buhari had insisted that officers for all the 78 party
positions emerge through a consensus. After endorsing Senator Abdullahi Adamu,
as the national chairman, he asked governors to draw up a unity list to fill
the remaining 77 positions, a move which sparked outrage by some of the
aspirants.
One of the aspirants for the position of National Youth
Leader, Dada Olusegun, even cried while announcing his decision to step down.
No fewer than six chairmanship aspirants stepped down after
paying N20m each. They include Niger East Senator, Sani Musa; a former governor
of Nasarawa State, Senator Tanko Al-Makura; and the Deputy National Chairman of
the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, Turaki Salihu Mustapha.
Others, who stepped down, are former governor Abdul’Aziz
Yari of Zamfara State; Minister of Special Duties, Senator George Akume; and
Mohammed Etsu. All the aspirants paid the joint sum of N120m.
At least six persons stepped down for the two deputy
national chairmanship positions, including Sunny Moniedafe, Adamu Farouq;
former governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State; a former Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; a former Senate President Ken Nnamani; and two
others. They paid N10m each.
The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka,
did not respond to inquiries on Friday. However, he had earlier promised that
the party would refund the aspirants.
In a chat on Saturday, an aspirant for the deputy
chairmanship position, Moniedafe, said the APC must not renege on its promise
to refund the aspirants.
Moniedafe also berated Shehu for saying the President only
“advised” the party to refund the aspirants who stepped down.
The APC chieftain said he was at the convention venue when
he was invited to Senate President Ahmad Lawan’s guesthouse in Abuja.
He stated, “I beg to disagree with Garba Shehu. I heard the
President right. He directed that those who stepped down should be refunded. I
was called on the day of the convention. I was at the venue of the convention
when I was invited to the Senate President’s house.
“They pleaded with me to step down with the assurance that
we would be given our money.”
On what he would do if he was not refunded, Moniedafe said,
“If they try that, it will destroy every opportunity for reconciliation. It
will destroy trust in the party. I heard it loud and clear. Garba Shehu should
not be saying such a thing. It is unfair. I campaigned for 21 months. The form
was just a fraction of the funds spent.”
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