By Ikechukwu Okaforadi
A youth group, the APC Youth for Change (APCY4C) yesterday stormed the national secretariat of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to protest the adoption of indirect mode of primary election to choose the party’s candidate for the July 20th Ondo state primaries.
The group urged the Caretaker Committee of the party to rescind its decision on the indirect mode of primary in the interest of APC, warning that if the party remains adamant, a repetition of what happened in Zamfara and Rivers is about to happen again in Ondo state.
Addressing journalists, the coordinator, Okoye Ikechukwu said “the APC Youth 4 Change will not sit back and allow our great party, APC loose the election in Ondo state to another party due to unpopular decisions”.
The youth body said any aspirant wishing for indirect primary is wicked, callous and unpopular, insisting that direct primary will provide a level playing field for all aspirants.
“We appeal to our listening Caretaker Committee Chairman, Governor Buni and his team not to be deceived by the antics of these unpopular politicians in Ondo state who have lost touch with the people but insisting on contesting under our great party. We find it appalling that out of 12 aspirants contesting in the primaries only one person is seriously routing for indirect primary”, it said.
In a related development, the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has alleged that politicians, particularly members of the recently dissolved National Working Committee of the APC are behind the recent media attacks on the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami.
NYCN said the attack on Malami was allegedly targeted to discredit the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a press conference Wednesday in Abuja, NYCN national president, Comrade Solomon Adodo, said the said politicians were all out to rubbish the determination of President Muhammadu Buhari to rid the country of systemic corruption, “but also to destabilize his government so that an eventual takeover is guaranteed.
The youths council said since the recent dissolution of APC’ National Working Committee (NWC) the godfathers of the sacked party leaders were still very aggrieved but “there is a limit to how they can vent their anger on Mr. President, they have chosen to unleash all their venoms on the Attorney General.”
Adodo said the politicians “began by insinuating that if Magu is guilty of corruption, it means the President has altogether lost it. In fact, they claim that by the government allowing him to stay this long, it means the Anti-corruption fight is a charade. But this notion is laughable, because it is the same government of Buhari that is probing him now. But we shall deal with this point later.
“Another group has focused their attention on the Star Chief Law Officer of Federation, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN. Their own antics are infantile, comical and full of delusions that one is forced to pity them. You may have seen a building which they claim that Mr. Malami built for his son. And you may have read of other properties which they unsuccessfully tried to link him to. These have all been found to be nothing other than merchandise in falsehood.”
Speaking on why some APC leaders were allegedly working to discredit the AGF and the President, the youths leader said: “when the All Progressives Congress (APC) was headed to an avoidable crisis, with litigations everywhere, Mr. President in his capacity as the authentic leader of the Party announced his endorsement of a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.
