All Progressives Congress, APC, has denied the suspension of Zamfara State Ward Congress last October as claimed by Senator Kabiru Marafa.
Marafa, whose camp held a parallel ward congress at the weekend as against that of the party’s Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) had claimed his supporters were caught unawares.
He claimed the party merely announced last week that the exercise would hold the weekend having allegedly suspended the exercise.
But in a press statement signed by the national secretary, CECPC, Senator John James Akpanudodehe, Monday, the party countered Marafa’s position but maintained the party would not join issues with him.
He said, “For the avoidance of doubt, the APC received intelligence reports bordering on the security of the Zamfara State APC Ward Congress Committee, hence the need to temporarily suspend their activities.
“That necessitated the letter of 5th November, 2021 to the Chairman of the Committee, Alh. Ibrahim Kabir Masari, only.”
Akpanudodehe explained that after evaluation and consultations, the Committee, in a letter dated 10th November, 2021 was okayed to proceed with the conduct of the Zamfara State Ward Congresses on Saturday 13th, November 2021, which Sen. Marafa participated.
This had nothing to do with the 21-day notice for the conduct of Wards, Local Government Areas and State Congresses in Zamfara State earlier sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which subsists.
“The letter to Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari which Senator Marafa is brandishing is an internal administrative correspondence and was not copied to INEC nor any other agency or person(s) as the case may be.
“This clarification is necessary to guide Sen. Marafa and his cohorts who seem bent on misleading our teeming party members in Zamfara State,” he said.