‘Mama Taraba’ lost out in APC

There were mixed reactions among APC members in Taraba State over the swearing in of new chairman and other executive members of the party for the state by the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, in Abuja, yesterday.

Oshiomhole had on Monday swore in Hon. Ibrahim Tukur El-Sudi as Taraba State APC chairman and tasked him to ensure participation of members and stakeholders to work for the success of the party.

EL-Sudi replaced Abdulmumini Vaki, who emerged chairman of the party in June, with active support of the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Aisha Jummai Alhassan.

Malam Garba Dauda, a member of the party and close associate of Mrs. Alhassan, said the action of the national secretariat of the APC

would bring more confusion in the party in Taraba.

He said it was wrong to swear in another person as chairman while another person who was duly elected was occupying the same position.

But Mr Aaron Artimas, the new public relations officer of the party, who was sworn in alongside the new executive members, told Daily Trust in a telephone interview, that they had the support of over 80 per cent of members of the party in the state.

He said the new exco has between 13 and 14 governorship aspirants as well as key stakeholders of Taraba politics while the former exco led by Vaki controlled only about 20 per cent of membership.

“Politics is a game of number and the new exco has the support of majority. There was celebration by members of APC in Jalingo and in all the local government areas of the state,” Aaron said.

Both Maman Taraba and the ousted chairman of the party could not be reached for comment as they were said to be in Abuja holding meetings.

Sources said Mama Taraba had single handedly financed activities of the APC in the state; but her utterances last year in respect to her preference for exVice President Atiku Abubakar had made leaders of the party at the national level to be suspicious about her movements.