The police in Niger State was called to intervene in the crisis rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) with the invitation of the chairman, Mohammed Jibril Imam, and other executive members over allegations of mismanagement and misappropriation of funds.
This is coming against the backdrop of calls for the chairman’s removal over poor handling of the party’s affairs, leading to the loss of the governor’s ward in Kontagora to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last council election.
The crisis later degenerated into the recent expulsion of the former Deputy Governor and former Nigerian Ambassador to South Africa, Ahmed Musa Ibeto, and the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Nasara Dan-Mallam, from the party.
The state’s Financial Secretary, Mohammed Idris, had petitioned the state Commissioner of Police, accusing Imam and his team of misappropriation and lack of records for virtually all the party’s financial dealings since they came on board.
“It is very unfortunate that the APC has received several funds, but unfortunately no records of how and when such monies were spent and for what particular purpose, as the financial secretary I should be in the know of all the party’s financial dealings,” he said.
Idris, who listed 11 sources he could remember where monies came into the party’s coffers in the past few years without being accounted for, said as the financial secretary, he had not gotten records of the income and expenses as received by the party over time.
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Idris said, “As the financial secretary, I have no records of all the mentioned income in accordance with my duties as contained in the party’s constitution and article 14:8 which has been breached.”
To perfect the looting of the party’s finances, Idris said though he had been the Financial Secretary, he was blocked from receiving bank alerts on the day-to-day transactions of the APC in Niger State and no reason whatsoever was given for that.
Our correspondent, however, learnt that following the allegations, which prompted the police to invite the party chairman, other executive members after an emergency meeting, sent a delegation led by the State Secretary, Barrister Mohammed Liman, to meet with the police last Friday with the intention of ‘settling the matter amicably at party level’.
The implosion in the ruling APC, it was learnt, might not be unconnected with the no love lost situation between the chairman and Governor Abubakar Sani Bello over some critical decisions taken by the chairman without the governor’s knowledge, culminating into the suspension and expulsion of some of the governor’s close allies.
“What is happening in APC is one of such politicking that may lead to implosion of the party, if care is not taken. The chairman took some decisions without consulting with the governor,” a source close to the party chairman said.
Meanwhile, efforts to get the state APC chairman, Imam, react to the allegations proved abortive as at the time of this report as his mobile phone was switched off and therefore unreachable.
