Taraba APC chairmanship aspirant sues party over congress outcome

A chairmanship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress in Taraba State, Alhaji Haruna Hadi Lau, has taken the party to the Federal High Court in Jalingo after raising objections over the process that produced the new state executive of the party.

The legal action followed the recently concluded state congress of the APC where a consensus candidate emerged as the party’s state chairman.

Lau, who is dissatisfied with the outcome of the exercise, said he decided to challenge the process in court because he was allegedly left out of the arrangements that produced the consensus candidate.

Speaking to journalists in Jalingo over the weekend, he explained that he did not withdraw from the race and was fully prepared to contest for the chairmanship position before the congress was held.

According to him, the process that produced the new chairman was not conducted in a clear and fair manner. He said he did not see members of the election committee or the appeal committee before the congress took place.

Lau explained that such committees are usually expected to meet with aspirants and discuss the arrangements for the exercise, but he claimed that this did not happen in his case.

The aspirant also alleged that the committees assigned to oversee the congress were prevented from interacting with some contestants before the exercise. He claimed that the committees were controlled in a way that kept certain aspirants away from the process, including himself.

While speaking with journalists, Lau displayed a receipt which he said was proof that he purchased the party’s nomination form to contest for the chairmanship position.

He said he was disappointed that the leadership of the party did not explain to him or his supporters why he was allegedly excluded from the caucus meeting where the consensus candidate was eventually chosen.

Lau said that after the congress, he submitted a formal complaint about the process and later decided to approach the court to seek justice. According to him, the situation left him with no other option because he believes the process was compromised.

The dispute has also created tension among some members of the APC in the state. Several party members who spoke with journalists expressed concern about the way the congress was conducted. They said the process could affect the unity of the party if the issues raised by aggrieved members are not addressed.

Some of the dissatisfied members claimed that individuals who have been part of the party for many years were sidelined during the congress. They alleged that some of the people who eventually became members of the new state executive were recent entrants into the APC.

According to them, some of these officials previously belonged to the Peoples Democratic Party before joining the ruling party.

The concerned members warned that the situation could weaken the party ahead of future elections if the national leadership does not step in to address the dispute. They called on the national leadership of the APC to intervene quickly and resolve the disagreements within the state chapter of the party.

However, the Taraba State spokesperson of the APC, Aaron Artimas, rejected the allegations raised by Lau and other aggrieved members. He explained that the positions in the state executive were shared among different political stakeholders within the party and that each stakeholder was allowed to nominate candidates for the various positions.

Artimas said the list of nominees submitted by the stakeholders was later approved by the party’s caucus in the state. According to him, the caucus is made up of former elected leaders within the party who reviewed the list before the nominees were asked to obtain and complete the necessary forms.

He also explained that the governor, who is regarded as the leader of the party in the state, was allowed to present a candidate for the chairmanship position. Artimas further questioned Lau’s claim that he bought a nomination form, saying the party had no record of him submitting any form through the proper channel.

According to the party spokesperson, anyone who purchases a nomination form is expected to submit it through the party’s established process. He said that since Lau did not submit any form to the party’s officials, there was no indication that he intended to contest for the chairmanship position.

The disagreement over the Taraba APC congress has therefore continued to generate debate among party members, with some demanding a review of the process while the party leadership insists that the exercise followed the agreed arrangements within the state chapter.