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APC secretariat demolished in Kaduna, as crisis deepens
FILE: Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi’s property was demolished in Kaduna State
The secretariat of the faction of ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna has been demolished.
The controversial secretariat is reported to have been demolished in the early hours of Tuesday.
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According to Channels TV, the Secretariat is located at number 11B Sambo in the state capital.
The Secretariat belongs to the faction loyal to the suspended senators representing Kaduna Central, Senator Shehu Sani and that of Kaduna North zone, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi.
It was opened last week as a parallel State APC office due to the inability of the group to reconcile with the State party organ.
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The property, a one storey duplex, was said to belong to Senator Hunkuyi before it was converted to a State Party Secretariat last week.
On Sunday, the group held a meeting at the Secretariat, where they claimed to be the recognized state chapter by the APC national leadership.
Hunkuyi, (APC/Kaduna North) had on Thursday declared that Governor Ahmed El-Rufai of Kaduna has not been fair to Kaduna State, and vowed to
“do everything possible” to vote him out in 2019.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai has had a running battle with Senator Shehu Sani and Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi
“The battle line has been drawn; we must vote out El-Rufa’i in 2019 general elections,” the senator said in Kaduna, at a ceremony to formally unveil a forum tagged: “APC Aspirants Forum”.
Hunkuyi, who said that he might contest the Kaduna governorship seat in 2019 ”, stated that the forum was to “check and neutralise the power of incumbency”.
He accused El-Rufai of not being fair to the majority of the people, saying that the forum would work toward ensuring that non-performing officials were voted out.
In the early hours of today, the @GovKaduna Mallam @elrufai personally drove a bulldozer accompanied by armored tanks to destroy my house at 11B Sambo Road. This is a new low and fighting dirty with such low level of pettiness is indeed unprecedented in Kaduna State. pic.twitter.com/l7iR5QRINB
— Senator Hunkuyi (@HunkuyiSuleiman) February 20, 2018
The senator described the forum as a “thumb-down revolution” to oust El-Rufai, and urged the APC to ensure internal democracy.
“We will put structures at all levels to ensure that APC followers get credible candidates that will be rallying points for all; anything less is not negotiable,” he said.
He added that the forum, which he would lead, would work with APC leaders to ensure that the party executives and political office aspirants emerged through democratic processes.
Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi says Governor Nasir El-Rufai will be voted out
Sen. Hunkuyi urged stakeholders to join hands with the forum to “rescue our dear party and Kaduna State from total collapse”, and promised to chart a new course in the effort toward a better Kaduna State.
Alhaji Tijjani Ramalan, Chairman, Kaduna Restoration Group, said that the group would reject El-Rufai’s candidacy “if he chooses to contest in 2019”.
Ramalan alleged that El-Rufai’s policies and actions were “anti-people”, and accused him of “having no regards to the wishes of those who supported his emergence as governor in 2015”.
He urged APC members to support the forum to protect democracy and provide its dividends to the people. ”We are told that an APC reconciliation team will come to Kaduna. If they want our support, El-Rufa’i should not run in 2019,” he said.
In a reaction, the government said it had been made aware of the “boastful and pompous claims made by Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, about changing the leadership of Kaduna State in 2019 by installing himself as Governor’’.
