Hundreds of fierce-looking young men were yesterday sighted at the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano, the venue for the ongoing sitting of the national appeal committee to address complaints that trailed the conduct of the party’s ward congress.
Most of the young men in front and around the party secretariat along Maiduguri road were seen holding weapons like daggers, clubs and machetes and smoking.
Kano was one of the states that witnessed parallel congresses during the exercise in July, with some of the aggrieved party members that kicked against the consensus arrangement threatening to institute legal action to challenge the congress.
But Dr Kabir Matazu, the chairman of the six-member committee from the national headquarters of the party, told journalists that the secretariat was chosen as a fair venue for the committee’s sitting to avoid any allegation of bias from any quarter.
On how secure the venue was for petitioners, Matazu said the said thugs were part of the political system, saying it was impossible to keep them away from wherever politicians were going.
He, however, said while the committee was yet to receive any petition as of Tuesday, those that have issues with the conduct of the ward congress should come to the secretariat and submit their petitions.
Matazu said the committee arrived in Kano on Friday and paid a courtesy visit to the state governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, before meeting with the caretaker committee in the state to fine-tune the modalities for the sitting, which will last for two weeks.
