APC Crisis: National Vice Chairman tackles National Secretary over ‘selfish’ actions

A new state leadership was inaugurated in Borno
A major crack appeared in the interim national leadership of the All Progressives Congress on Saturday as the party’s interim National Vice Chairman for the North East, Umar Duhu, publicly accused the party’s National Secretary, Tijani Tumsah, of usurping his functions.
Mr. Tumsah on Saturday supervised the inauguration of the interim leadership of the APC in Borno; a task Mr. Duhu said was constitutionally his.
“In my capacity as the Vice Chairman, I am the only one empowered by the APC to inaugurate all APC State Interim Committee (SIC) Members (in the zone)”, Mr. Duhu said, in a statement sent to reporters in Borno. “I had inaugurated, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, and Adamawa States. I only have Borno and Yobe State, to conclude my assignment in the Zone.”
Mr. Duhu’s open outrage follows the crisis in Borno APC between the state governor, Kashim Shettima, and his predecessor, Ali Sheriff, over control of the party.
The executive inaugurated by Mr. Tumsah is loyal to the incumbent governor who attended the event with his supporters. Mr. Sheriff and his supporters boycotted the event.
“For Borno State, I am on the last lap of discussions with the leaders of the Party in the State, to inaugurate them.  What I am doing is to carry everyone along. I will be failing in my responsibilities if I go ahead to inaugurate, and does not carry all members of the SIC along.
“This afternoon, the former State Chairman of the defunct CPC, called me on phone, and was accusing me of not involving them in the inauguration going on in Maiduguri.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I told him that, any inauguration in Maiduguri without my understanding or permission, is in total nullified and is unacceptable to the Party,” he said.
The vice chairman questioned the basis of the National Secretary’s actions without consulting him.
“I am not sick, nor outside the sores of this Country, that anyone, no matter how big his position is in the APC, that, such person will usurp my powers and do so for selfish reasons,” he said. “As party Leaders, we must be concerned with uniting our leaders and members, not to concern ourselves with personal gains or to further saw seeds of discord between them.”
“I will be very surprised and disappointed with any National Officer of the Party, who will go out of his way to go to Maiduguri to inaugurate the Borno State Interim Committee, for any selfish reason known to him.”
“I never dabble into the affairs and works of any National Officer of the APC. Respect is reciprocal and I do not also expect anyone of them to do any such thing to me. We all have our defined responsibilities, and we must remain sincere to our responsibilities, and the respect for one another should be our guide,” he added.
The APC since its registration last year following the merger of some political parties has had trouble dealing with discontent and internal strife among its top members.
This week, two founding leaders of the party, both former governors, decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party.
Aliyu Bafarawa (Sokoto) and Ibrahim Shekarau (Kano) said, among other things, that they abandoned the party because it treated them unfairly

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