Kaduna LG Polls: APC disqualifies ALGON chair, 37 others after test »

Kaduna state chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared 38 of the 115 aspirants that purchased forms to contest the local government chairmanship not suitable for various reasons.

Some of the reasons adduced for the party’s decision ranged from being indicted at one time or the other, to failing to measure up in the aptitude (test) carried out by the party.

A major highlight of the exercise was the disqualification of some serving chairmen seeking second tenure.

Two of the serving chairmen, as contained in the results released by the party, were sent parking for anti-party activities. Further details on this were not provided.

The affected council chairmen in this case are those of Soba local government, Mr Aliyu Mahmood and his Lere counterpart, Mr Abubakar Buba.

Also, an incumbent local government chairman of one of the urban local government areas in Kaduna central was dropped on account of indictment by the report of the auditor general in 2019 for mismanagement of public funds/financial misappropriation in the council.

The party said the exercise was conducted to screen out incompetent aspirants as well as those with questionable credentials and deficiencies that could expose the party to post-election litigations.

Blueprint recalls that the party organised written examination for the chairmanship aspirants, being the first in the history of Nigeria, as condition for qualification to contest the party’s local government chairmanship primaries.

The aspirants were also subjected to thorough oral interview by a 17-member panel comprising professors, lawyers and holders of doctorate degrees among others.

It was also gathered that one of the questions during the examination was for the aspirants to write biographical essay on their life, schools attended, work experiences, places lived or visited within Kaduna state, Nigeria and abroad.

Among the 115 aspirants that purchased the forms to contest, 75 were declared suitable while 38 were declared unfit and two of the aspirants failed to return their purchased forms.

APC justifies stance

Justifying its position, the state chairman of APC, Air Commodore Emmanuel Jekada (rtd) said: “Do you expect all of them to be successful? The essence of the exam and screening is basically to ensure that those that are not suitable having been given equal opportunities to prove themselves are not allowed to go into the primaries.

“We are doing this to ensure that it is not business as usual and to strengthen the party ahead of the primaries and the actual election.”

The APC publicity scribe in the state, Mr Tanko Wusono, had April told newsmen in Kaduna that the State Independent Electoral Commission (KAD-SIECOM) fixed the polls for June 5.

Wusono said: “At the close of the sales of nomination forms on April 14, some 105 contestants have picked the forms to seek the party’s platform and stand election for the chairmanship position in the 23 LGs.

“Some 800 others had purchased the nomination forms for councillorship tickets of the party in the 255 wards in the state”