Sokoto APC welcomes exit of ‘moles’ from party


The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Sokoto state has described the exit of those it called moles from the party, as good riddance to bad company.

Briefing newsmen after a meeting at the state secretariat of the APC on Wednesday, state chairman, Isa Sadiq Acida, Turakin Acida, dismissed the recent ceremony to receive decampees from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as laughable and a show of shame.

He said the reception of the so called APC decampees into the PDP on  June 26, 2022, has passed as a non-event and a laughable affair.

“It is now obvious that a battle line has been drawn between the APC and the masses of Sokoto state on the one hand, and the selfish political mercenaries and their pay masters on the other hand.

“The political wanderers that staged the show of shame last Sunday, danced naked in the market square, which only ended in inflicting incurable political injury on themselves and nailing their political coffins.

“We are happy to see the formal departure of PDP moles, whose assignment has failed and who in the end shamefully went home with their tails between their legs,” he said.

Acida said the defectors were people who have been rejected by their communities and have no political value at state, local government or even ward levels.

He said the various speeches they made at the event portrayed them as bad sportsmen, who should have no place in any democratic setting.

“Politics is like sports, where there are always winners and losers. Unfortunately, these are selfish individuals, who are only interested in their personal comfort rather than the welfare of the people they claim to represent.

“It is instructive that none of the so-called decampees gave any acceptable reason that attracted him to the unfortunate PDP bandwagon. None among them cited any tangible state government’s project or achievement in any sector of human endeavour, because there is none. Rather they only consigned themselves to political irrelevance,” he said.

According to him, the entire group was made up of people who have turned their backs on those that were instrumental to bringing them to political limelight.

“Among them are people who became ministers after being single handedly nominated by Senator Aliyu Wamakko. There are also in the group, those who were single handedly sponsored into the state and national assemblies, with many of them being returned for more than two tenures, all courtesy of Senator Wamakko.

“These are familiar happenings that have only further strengthened, rather than weakened Senator Wamakko’s resolve to render more help, whenever and wherever the need arises.

“We deem it as a political suicide for the defectors to have aligned with the failed government of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; a government that lacks accountability, a government without focus, a government that has impoverished Sokoto state through doubtful financial deals,” he said.

He challenged the Sokoto state government to explain why it abandoned ongoing projects, such as the Illela Garage-More-Isa junction road and bridge, the Rijiya Dorowa overhead bridge, the Runjin-Sambo overhead bridge, as well as the State University Teaching Hospital and the Girls Secondary School in Kasarawa.

“Àll these projects have been abandoned in spite of the several revaluations and cost increases over and above the original contract sums.

“We challenge the governor to explain why those projects have become conduit pipes, What are the original contract sums and what are the subsequent increases for each project?

“We equally challenge the governor to explain to the people of Sokoto state, reasons for the inability of his government to renovate the Sokoto Central Market, as well as the fate of shop owners who lost fortunes in the ill fated fire outbreak early last year.

“We wish to call on the Sokoto state governor to borrow a leaf from his counterparts of neighbouring states, who have unfailingly paid the retirement benefits of civil servants in their states.

“It is disheartening to note that retired civil servants in Sokoto state are being owed gratuities since 2016, without any concrete plan of settling them, in spite of several broken promises.

“We in the Sokoto state APC wish to state, categorically, that we reject the outright sale of the State Civil Service Club premises along Ali Akilu Road, because this is the only recreational facility available to civil servants in the state.

“Equally, we reject the outright sale of the Buzaye mechanics village, along J. Allen Avenue, Sokoto and will take every available legal means to make sure that the mechanics are not ejected from where they earn their livelihood. This is because, we believe the sale of this mechanic village will add to unemployment and further compound the security situation in the state,” he said