Road To 2023: Senate Deputy Chief Whip Debunks Defection Rumour

The Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, representing Niger North Senatorial District has debunked the rumour that he has defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) following his alleged manipulation in the May 28 Senatorial primary election.

The Deputy Chief Whip in a statement by the Director-General of his campaign organization, Mallam Mohammed Garba Danladi, a copy which was made available to Newsmen in Minna on Sunday, said Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi still remains a member of the APC and has no intention of defecting from the party no matter the circumstances that surrounded “the heavily manipulated” Senatorial primary election for Niger North.

Recalled that the Deputy Chief Whip had after the primary election, petitioned APC Legislative Election Appeal Committee for Niger North Senatorial District over the outcome of the primary election which he alleged that the exercise was heavily manipulated to ensure the emergence of the incumbent governor of the state, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, and therefore called for the cancellation of the exercise.

The senator in the five-page letter of petition, personally signed by himself and addressed to the Chairman, APC Legislative Election Appeal Committee for Niger North Senatorial District, described the exercise as a complete violation of the guidelines and procedures for the conduct of the party primaries and the electoral act 2022 and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Senator Sabi in the petition called for a legal, free and fair primary election where the will of the people will not be coerced nor manipulated but freely conducted in line with the party guidelines and procedures, pointing out that what took place in the primary election was nothing but “inglorious and shameful charade”, all in the name to force a sitting governor on the People as their senator.

However while debunking his defection rumour, Senator Sabi Director of Campaign stated that “I want to categorically state here that my principal Senator Dr Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (Baraden Borgu) the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate is still in APC and shall remain in APC.”

Senator Sabi while appealing to the National, state and local government Leadership of the party and his supporters to disregard any form of information or rumour regarding his defection, maintained that regardless of the outcome of his petition before the Election Appeal Committee, he will not defect from the party.

“I will not only remain in the party, I will work for the victory of the party at all levels in the forthcoming

2023 general election. I am a loyal member of the party, and will use all the available internal mechanisms to ensure that justice is done,” he submitted.