There is confusion in the ruling All Progressives Congress in the Federal Capital Territory as two candidates claim the chairmanship ticket of the party in the Abuja Municipal Area Council.
Two candidates, Sulaimon Gwagwa and Muritala Karshi have been campaigning at the different parts of FCT.
The two candidates had on many occasions claimed to be the candidate of the party.
According to reports, Gwagwa won the primary election with 109 votes while his closest challenger, Karshi scored 103 votes.
It was gathered that Karshi challenged the matter in court and won. Gwagwa appealed at the Appeal Court, the court ruled in his favour. Karshi, however, approached the Supreme Court.
However, checks by our correspondent revealed that Karshi’s name was on the Independent National Electoral Commission list.
Speaking with our correspondent, the chairman of the APC in FCT, Abdulmalik Usman, said there was little the party could do as the matter was at the Supreme Court.
He added that the party gave them the nod to go about their campaigns.
Usman said, “When you have a party that is strong you would see people struggling to be its candidate. There is little we can do because the issue is before the supreme court, we hope the apex court gives its ruling and declares one of them the owner of the ticket.
“But what we are doing as a party is to allow the two of them to campaign. It is the logo of the party that appears on the ballot paper and not the candidates’ names. Whoever gets the ticket in court would be our candidate for the election.”
When asked if the situation would not affect the chances of the party at the poll, he said, “It would not. The PDP candidate cannot withstand any of the two candidates. Besides, we are on the ground in the area council.
“Also, none of them has asked their supporters not to vote for APC. This is not happening for the first time. In 2007, we had two National Assembly candidates, the APC won and one of them got the mandate.
“No one should worry about what is happening. The two should carry on with their campaigns and work for the victory of the party in the area council.”
