The governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement in Adamawa State, Abdurahman Haske, has accused the All Progressives Congress of failing to genuinely reconcile its factions after the party’s controversial governorship primary.
Haske, who defected from the APC to the APM after losing the party’s ticket, said claims that he repeatedly rejected invitations to reconciliation meetings were misleading.
Speaking on TVC’s Politics on Sunday, the former APC governorship aspirant said he had no personal quarrel with the party but argued that its approach to resolving the crisis was fundamentally flawed.
“What I think the party failed to understand is that it is more like a political reconciliation rather than a military approach,” Haske said.
He said while he had enjoyed cordial relationships with national APC leaders, including President Bola Tinubu, the situation at the state level was different.
According to him, some Adamawa APC leaders operated with the mindset that political actors were either “with us or out of it.”
Haske said the crisis became more pronounced shortly before the governorship primary when the aspirants met with Governor Ahmadu Fintiri.
He claimed that the governor had assured them that the primary would be free and fair, with all aspirants allowed to mobilise supporters and compete.
However, Haske said the events on the day of the primary did not correspond with what had been discussed.
He also rejected claims that he refused to participate in reconciliation efforts after the election.
“There is always room for reconciliation, and you can see we are still with the party almost three months after the primaries. They gave room for reconciliation,” he said.
Haske, however, said meetings involving some of his political leaders and stakeholders later turned into “another set of drama.”
Asked whether his defection could have been avoided if there had been a genuine reconciliation process, he replied, “Most definitely, if there was genuine reconciliation. There was no reconciliation.”
The APM candidate accused some APC officials and political actors of publicly insulting their opponents instead of negotiating with them.
He argued that such an approach was not capable of resolving the divisions created by the primary.
Haske also took aim at politicians who describe themselves as established figures in Adamawa politics, questioning their electoral records.
“What is political experience? What is an establishment if you have never won an election?” he asked.
He said political influence should be measured by the ability to win elections rather than by claims of belonging to an established political bloc.
On the role of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, in the APC primary, Haske declined to accuse him of influencing the emergence of the eventual winner, Ahmed Sijjani Galadima.
Haske described Ribadu as a father figure and said he could not accuse him of manipulating the primary.
