Taraba APC Congress: Aggrieved presidential aspirant drags party to court

The recent state convention of the Taraba state branch of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which produced new leaders, took a new turn as a presidential aspirant, Alhaji Haruna Hadi Lau, at the weekend, dragged the party to the Federal High Court in Jalingo.

Lau, while briefing journalists at the weekend in Jalingo, said he was unfairly excluded from the process that produced a consensus candidate at the party’s state conference.

He stressed that he had never resigned for any candidate, contrary to claims circulating within the party, adding that the process that led to the emergence of the party’s state president lacked transparency and fairness.

It also said that officials tasked with conducting the congress were not allowed to properly interact with the contestants before the exercise.

“The congress took place without my knowledge because I did not see the electoral committee and the appeals committee. If they had been there, they should have met all the contestants before the congress, but that did not happen,” he said.

He also said he had formally petitioned the trial and approached the court seeking compensation, stressing that the committees’ alleged compromise left him no choice but to legally challenge the outcome.

The ugly trend has also sparked growing discontent among some party workers in the state. Some aggrieved party members who spoke to reporters expressed concern that the way the congress was conducted could negatively affect the party’s fortunes in future elections.