The Adamawa South senatorial candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Fwa, has said he left the All Progressives Congress following what he described as injustice and a lack of internal democracy in the party’s Adamawa State chapter.
Reacting to the allegations, the APC in Adamawa State dismissed Fwa’s claims, describing them as an attempt to damage the party’s image.
Fwa, who was declared winner of the Labour Party senatorial primary election on Saturday night in Yola by the chairman of the exercise, Mr Mazi Ochama, spoke to journalists on Monday, insisting that his ambition to serve his constituency could not be frustrated by undemocratic practices.
“I resigned from APC, which I have been a member of the party for about 10 years, before I discovered that the leaders of the party were not ready to follow the rules of democracy, which includes fairness, transparency and level playing grounds for all participants,” he said.
He further alleged irregularities in the APC primary process, claiming that candidates were wrongly reassigned to different positions.
“You people are all in Adamawa State people that bought forms for governorship were over night declared as senatorial candidates. Some bought forms for senatorial seat, and they were declared winners of House of Representatives; do you say such a party is practising democracy,” he asked.
Fwa expressed confidence in his chances in the 2027 senatorial election, saying he is relying on grassroots support to secure victory.
“I am going to win the Senate election come 2027,” he said.
He is expected to contest against serving senator Binos Dauda Yaroe, who has since defected from the APC to the African Democratic Congress, and Felix Tangwami, who was previously linked to a governorship ambition but was later announced as a senatorial candidate on the APC platform.
Both Fwa and Tangwami hail from Demsa Local Government Area in southern Adamawa.
Reacting the APC in Adamawa State spokesman Victor Dogo insisted that the primaries were conducted transparently.
“We conducted primaries openly; the media covered the exercise, people lined up to vote their preferred candidates, so where is the injustice?” he said.
“I challenge Labour Party and other political parties to show us the videos of their primary elections in Adamawa State,” he added.
