A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State, Dr. Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, has appealed to the national leadership of the party over the alleged exclusion of his supporters from the ongoing nationwide APC membership e-registration exercise in the state.
In a petition dated January 10 and addressed to the APC national chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, Shinkafi accused the Zamfara State chapter of the party of violating Article 9 (1) of the APC Constitution, which guarantees open and inclusive membership registration for eligible Nigerians.
The APC recently commenced electronic registration across all 14 local government areas and 147 wards in Zamfara State as part of efforts to modernise its membership database, eliminate duplication and strengthen internal democracy. The exercise is intended to capture both old and new members in a central digital register.
However, Shinkafi alleged that members of his political movement, the Wamban Shinkafi Democratic Front, were deliberately excluded from the exercise. He claimed that local government and ward chairmen were directed to deny registration to APC members loyal to him.
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According to the petition, the exclusion allegedly extended to some local and ward executives, a move Shinkafi described as a calculated attempt to shut out his supporters from the party's membership register.
He further alleged that the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, was behind the purported exclusion, citing reports from coordinators of his movement across the state.
Shinkafi warned that the development has heightened fears that the e-registration reform has been compromised, leading to factionalisation and disunity within the Zamfara APC.
"The e-registration exercise is meant to dismantle gate-keeping structures and guarantee fairness," he stated, adding that actions taken by those managing the exercise in the state amounted to intimidation, harassment and a breach of internal party democracy.
He called on the APC national chairman and the National Working Committee (NWC) to urgently set up an independent and transparent investigative panel to probe the allegations and sanction anyone found culpable in line with the party's constitution.
Shinkafi cautioned that failure to address the matter promptly could undermine the objectives of the e-registration initiative and repeat the party's past electoral setbacks in Zamfara State.
"To avoid factionalisation, lack of unity and a repeat of the losses suffered in the 2019 and 2023 elections, the national leadership must intervene," he said.
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