A chairmanship aspirant in the recent Taraba State congress of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Hadi Lau, has taken legal action over what he describes as irregularities in the process that led to Alhaji Abubakar Bawa becoming the party’s state chairman. Lau announced this during a recent press conference in Jalingo, explaining that he filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in the Taraba State capital on Thursday, shortly after Bawa was declared the new chairman.
Lau claims that no valid state congress was conducted in Taraba, insisting that Bawa’s emergence did not comply with the constitutional provisions and guidelines of the APC. He rejected assertions that Bawa was chosen through a consensus arrangement, asserting that none of the chairmanship aspirants was consulted prior to the announcement.
Lau stated that he actively campaigned across the state and purchased the official nomination form as advertised by the party’s national secretariat, in accordance with the APC constitution. “APC advertised the chairmanship nomination form. I went and paid for the form, collected a receipt from the national headquarters, and went to retrieve the nomination form. We were told to wait until election day, when we received messages from the special adviser on political affairs to the governor of Taraba State, Hon. Josiah Sabo Kente, requesting us to come to the government house for a meeting.
“The meeting was postponed until the next day. During the meeting, Governor Kefas and the state APC chairman, Barr. El-Suldi were present. They spoke and asked us to leave while the state caucus deliberated. After that, I was not contacted again. I did not witness any congress or electoral committee come to the state to conduct the exercise.
“I was not invited to any meeting regarding a consensus candidate, nor was I issued the nomination form I had paid for; I still have my receipt. I heard on the radio and social media that Abubakar Bawa was declared the chairman of the APC in Taraba State. As a law-abiding citizen, I have no choice but to approach the court to defend my rights. I am not fighting anyone; I am fighting for my rights.”
Lau further alleged that, unlike other states, where the party established appeal committees to resolve complaints from aggrieved aspirants, Taraba had no such mechanism for contestants to voice their grievances. He explained that the absence of an appeal committee forced him to seek legal recourse.
The lawsuit he filed in the Federal High Court aims to address actions by the party that he claims contradict Articles 20.3 and 20.4 of the APC constitution. He is requesting that the court compel the party to issue him the nomination form he paid for and to direct the APC to return to Taraba to conduct a fresh and transparent election for the state chairmanship, following the party’s established procedures.
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