…Insists on party secretariat
A former Minister of Power under late President Muhammadu Buhari, Engr. Sale Mamman, has distanced himself from the recent All Progressives Congress, APC, stakeholders’ meeting held at the General Theophilus Danjuma Hall, Jalingo, Taraba State, describing the choice of venue as a violation of party directives.
Engr. Mamman, who disclosed this in a telephone interview with the Blue Print newspaper on Monday and made available to The Voice, said he deliberately stayed away from the meeting because it was not convened at the APC State Secretariat, contrary to the directive of the party’s national leadership.
“I am totally in line with the APC National Secretariat’s directive on consensus candidacy. I did not attend the APC stakeholders’ meeting at General T.Y. Danjuma Hall because that is not the party secretariat,” Mamman stated.
He stressed that high-profile party meetings should not be held outside the party secretariat or in government facilities, noting that such actions undermine internal party processes. “Party issues should be discussed on party premises, preferably at the secretariat,” he added.
The former minister further recalled his political antecedents, describing himself as a founding father of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, in Taraba State, which later metamorphosed into the APC. “By all standards, I am older than most of them in the party. I was one of those who brought APC to Taraba State. As a critical stakeholder, I should not be taken for granted,” he said.
Engr. Mamman also faulted the Taraba chapter of the APC for allegedly disregarding the national secretariat’s directive that the party should adopt consensus candidates and refrain from holding meetings at the Government House. He claimed that several aspirants, including himself, were absent from the meeting.
“Governor Agbu Kefas is also an aspirant, and I am an aspirant among others. If there is to be any consensus candidate, based on party hierarchy, I should be the one to be considered,” he emphasised.
He maintained that any consensus-building process must be held at the party secretariat and not at the Government House, warning that sidelining founding members could hurt the party’s cohesion ahead of the 2027 general elections.
