2019: Crack in APC as senator says Governor does not deserve second term

A major crack has emerged in the ranks of All Progressives Congress in Niger state as one of the senators from the state declared that governor Abubakar Sank Bello does not deserve a second term in office.

Mr David Umaru representing Niger East in the National Assembly gave the thumb down for the governor while speaking with some newsmen in Minna on Wednesday.

Both the governor and senator were elected on the platform of APC but have been at each other’s throat since 2016 over some of the policies of the governor which the senator felt were against people of the state and in particular his constituency.

APC had recently endorsed Mr Bello for a second term in office. Umaru was absent at the endorsement rally.

Umaru said the performance of the governor in the last three years did not qualify him for such endorsement.

According to him, the governor had not performed to the expectation of the electorate that voted him into office in 2015 to deserve such endorsement.

Umaru said the poor performance of the governor did not “justify his rush for second term”.

“The APC administration in Niger state has performed terribly bad to the extent that we should not be talking about second term. There is virtually nothing on ground to justify second term for the administration.

“Today I feel ashamed for working to enthrone this administration because of its highest level of un-seriousness”.

The federal lawmaker emphasised the need for APC to “make amends and give the people the deserved developments instead of preoccupying itself with endorsement galore which does not have the support of the electorate”.

Umaru criticised the party for “embarking on unrealistic endorsement of some elected persons including the governor” adding that “the party can give ticket but the people will do the voting in 2019”.

“I do not need the endorsement of the governor; he needs my endorsement. I need the endorsement of the people not that of the governor”.

He also decried what he described as “the use of ethnicity and religion to cause confusion in the state’s political landscape” in the face of serious underdevelopment saying “we should all come back as a united force and rescue the state in 2019”.

The lawmaker said that he was “waiting on God to decide whether to contest for any position including the senate in 2019” pointing out that: “contesting in 2019 should not be my priority now.

“As you know I do not have any poster out. I believe it is not how long I stay in office but what I have been able to do for the people that will determine if the people want me back or not”.