Kano APC Chair faults Ata’s ministerial appointment

• Says Housing minister not member of APC

By Musa Baba Adamu

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Abdullahi Abbas, has said the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Yusuf Ata, is not a member of the ruling party.

He accused the Minister of working against the party during the 2023 general elections.

Mr Abbas stated this while reacting to a threat by the Minister that he would dump the APC if Mr Abbas is re-elected as state chairman of the APC after serving three terms.

It would be recalled that Mr Ata, while addressing party stakeholders in Fagge Local Government Area during the weekend, blamed Mr Abbas for the party’s defeat in 2023 governorship election.

“We are making it clear to everyone, if they retain them, we will leave and the party will surely lose again.

“We are not with such people, and no matter what happens, we will not align with them. They send us messages, and we respond accordingly.

“We were raised with good morals; we know who God is, we respect our scholars and elders, and we will not compromise our values.

“If they insist on bringing them back, we will leave the party, and I swear, the party will fall again,” Ata had declared.

But speaking during an interview with the BBC yesterday monitored in abuja, Mr Abbas dismissed Mr Ata’s threats, revealing that he was not interested in becoming the state chairman but contesting for the governorship seat in 2027.

“My ambition is to become Governor of the state, not state Chairman of the party again.

“We, the original members of APC, don’t know him. He’s not a member of the party at any level in the state,” he said.

“We weren’t consulted before he was appointed as minister by President Bola Tinubu. And we have informed the president that he worked against the party during the last election”.