From Okwe Obi, Abuja
A self-appointed Interim National Chairman of the African Democratic Party (ADC), has shrugged off appeal by some royal fathers and maintained his position as the party’s Deputy National Chairman.
He condemned what he called a wave of telephone calls and covert lobbying allegedly aimed at coercing him into abandoning his stance in defense of the party’s democratic integrity.
Bala, in a statement yesterday by his Special Assistant (Public Affairs), Dr. Aminu Sani Alhassan, said: “It is disheartening that these telephone calls to undermine the efforts of the Interim National Chairman to defend the ADC’s democratic principles have been extended to some NWC members – urging them to stop the Chairman from maintaining the party’s latest position.
“It is indeed unfortunate that some royal fathers have stooped to serving as errand boys for political desperadoes bent on hijacking our party. Information reaching us has revealed that the arrowheads of 2027 coalition led by Gen David Mark and Elrufai and a host of others have also set up a group of elders to visit the mother of the ADC Interim Chairman in Gombe in order to compel him to hand over the party to the hijackers.
“This personalization is unacceptable and a veiled attempt to undermine democracy through the backdoor. We reject this attempt of dragging the ADC Chairman’s parents into a decidedly partisan matter.
“Let it be known without mincing words also: the meddlesome behavior by royal fathers and the secretly formed group of coalition arrowheads, for the visit to the Chairman’s mother is crude, disgraceful, unconstitutional, and a direct insult to Nigeria’s democratic process.”
Also, he warned those posing as peacemakers while advancing the alleged coalition agenda that they will be named and shamed.
He added: “Credible intelligence confirms that a handful of monarchs have been shamelessly lobbying, both openly via numerous telephone calls and in the shadows, to intimidate our Interim National Chairman, Alhaji Nafiu Bala Gombe, into surrendering the party to a clique of power-hungry hijackers.
“This is a shameful betrayal of the neutrality expected of traditional stools. It is also a disturbing descent into political brigandage, wrapped in royal robes.
“Let it be loud and clear: Traditional rulers have no business crawling around political corridors on behalf of godfathers. This is not 1983. The ADC will not be used as a stepping stone for the untrustworthy 2027 ambitions of a noisy gang of privileged few, not now, not ever.
“Alhaji Nafiu Bala Gombe remains unshaken. He is backed by the party’s constitution and enjoys overwhelming support from true ADC loyalists nationwide. He will not be blackmailed, cajoled, or cowed into surrender.
“Those posing as peacemakers while peddling the coalition agenda should beware, we will name and shame them. These backdoor royal agents are only proving how desperate and rattled the hijackers have become.
“Our message to these wayward monarchs: Face your thrones, not our party. Your job is to promote peace in your domains, not sell out your crowns to scheming politicians in Abuja.”
