The senior special assistant to the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Public Enlightenment, Chief Oliver Okpala, has said the APC North Central Forum chairman (NCF) Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, was planted by the opposition to destabilise the APC leadership.
Okpala stated this while reacting to reports credited to Alhaji Zazzaga who said rejected the endorsement of the APC national chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje by the chairman of the North Central Governors’ Forum and Nasarawa State governor, Abdullahi Sule.
Speaking with newsmen in Jos, the Plateau State capital, Zazzaga had criticised Governor Sule for paying a visit to the party secretariat in Abuja to pledge his support for Ganduje.
But, Okpala in a statement, derided Zazzaga for his reckless comments against Governor Sule and Ganduje.
According to Okpala “Zazzaga is an imposter and a fake purveyor of lies. If anyone is speaking on behalf of such a faceless and illegal group, he is engaging in acts of criminality and he should not be given attention.
“No due attention should be given by anyone in a notable political organisation like the APC with valid National Chairman duly recongnised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to the blackmail of Alhaji Zazzaga.
“Zazzaga should return to the path of political rectitude if he is a true party man before it is too late.
“He should take advantage of all the organs of the party through which issues can be resolved rather than playing to the gallery and washing dirty linens in the public glare.
“He ought to know that political parties have internal platforms for resolving issues, no matter how vexatious they may appear.
“When one fails to explore those options, but rushes to the courts as Zazzaga has done, it is an indication that such a person is a dissident and an outlaw.
“You cannot be claiming to be a zonal leader and be casting aspersions and insinuating ignoble innuendoes against the leadership of your party. That amounts to attempting to bring your own house to disrepute and ruin.
“Zazzaga has been attacking the National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje and even the President. Is this the conduct of a good party man? This indiscipline must stop” Chief Okpala emphasized.
“The Chairman of the APC North Central Governors Forum had spoken clearly, endorsing the leadership of Dr. Ganduje, only for Zazzaga to start attacking the Governor, calling him names.
“If Zazzaga is a true and disciplined party man he should know that the Governors are superior to whatever he claims to be in the party hierarchy or the geo political zone.
“The Governors are a great force to reckon with especially within their zones and the party in general. They have clearly taken a stand to remain behind Dr. Ganduje and their position is far superior to the rantings of anybody in the zone.
“If the governors have said Ganduje is proper and fit to carry on as National Chairman of the party, the objections by an inconsequentially unknown Zazzaga is just noise and mere distractions.
“These rantings are a sign of uncouth political upbringing and it portrays Zazzaga as a misfit under the political umbrella he claims to belong to. There is no place for rascals and loose cannons in our party, the APC.
“His continued comments in a matter he had taken to court is subjudice and it shows he lacks respect for the rule of law. You cannot file a case in court against the National Chairman and go to the streets to be making all sorts of comments on the same issue under judicial determination.
“Salihu Lukman, a former National Vice Chairman of the APC had threaded the path of Zazzaga by being antagonistic of Dr. Ganduje and the Presidency.
“Good enough, the Northern leaders of the party yesterday warned him and stated that his views do not represent theirs. They maintained that he doesn’t speak for them.
“So if Zazzaga’s co – traveler has been warned to desist from such unruly acts, one wonders under which guise or platform he is still spewing bile.
“Especially as he lacks locus standi within the party as the organisation he claims to speak for is not recognized by any law and is clearly an illegal entity.
“He is the one who filed a case in court against the National Chairman, a case for which judgment has been fixed, why is he now making comments that are pre-judicial and subversive to the determination of the suit.
“If Zazzaga has no respect for the rule of law why did he rush to the courts?
“His continued attacks on Dr. Ganduje shows that he has been contracted by the opposition to undermine, cause division and bad blood in the APC and that plot will fail,” Okpala concluded.
