Disquiet as Jigawa APC shelves primaries ahead of council poll

Ahead of the Jigawa State local government council election, there is apprehension in the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over selection of flag-bearers.

Our correspondent reports that crisis in the party started brewing shortly after the Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission (JISIEC) announced July 1 as the date for the council poll in the state.

It was gathered that the party ‘deliberately’ avoided the option of conducting primary election, which leaders said was to avoid division among party faithfuls.

But the party became entangled in serious crisis as the favoured ‘consensus option’ failed to produce candidates without rancour.

A source close to the party told Daily Trust that those selected in Yankwashe, Sule Tankarkar, Birnin Kudu, Kaugama, Mallam Madori and Babura local government areas did not have the support of the electorate.

Those calling for new selection hinged their grievance on the fact that the selected flag-bearers joined the ruling APC from the PDP only recently.

This development, it was gathered, did not go down well with the ‘original members of the party’ who deserved to be given right of first refusal.

The state APC chairman, Ado Sani Kiri, could not be reached as he did not respond to a phone call and a text message.

But recently, Kiri while fielding questions from newsmen said the APC did not want to go into primary election because of its consequences for a political party that was consolidating its gains.