After threat to beat me up, El-Rufai now wants to pull me down – APC North West Chair

Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, the All Progressives Congress Chairman for the North West, on Friday in Abuja refuted allegations that he embezzled the party’s campaign fund in 2015.
Abdulkadir spoke at a news briefing in reaction to an allegation made against him by Hajia Aisha Kaita, the North West Woman Leader of the party.
According to him, the allegation, which also indicted the zonal executive committee of the party, was fabricated, far reaching and baseless.
He said: “My reaction for now is that these are mere allegations, intentionally fabricated to ridicule my person and bring me to disrepute.
“I wish to state that the only funds that were disabused to the zone were done through the party’s account, which was operated at the instance of its National Secretariat.
“To the best of my knowledge, nobody has ever made any remittance from March 2015 to date into the account of the party.”
Abdulkadir, however, added that he had been maintaining the party’s secretariat on his personal account, while he foots his bills to attend party meetings in Abuja and within the zone.
He alleged that Kaita was being sponsored by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State in order to “pull him down”.
He added that the plan was to team up with some senators and political stakeholders in the state to achieve it.
Abdulkadir said it was, however, regrettable that the crisis in the party’s Kaduna State chapter had persisted in spite of concerted efforts by its leadership to ensure reconciliation.
He said that disharmony among key stakeholders of the party in the state had become so evident that it was beginning to affect the party negatively.
According to him, though the party’s leadership intervened and pacified aggrieved members and brought relative peace to the zone, the peace did not last.
He said that this was especially so because El-Rufai had not been forthcoming in all efforts to ensure harmony and solidarity in the party’s structure in state.
He said: “I have had meetings with him as leader of the party in the zone and made passionate appeals to him to drive the process that will harmonise, reconcile and solidify the party in the state.
“One of such appeals was in the presence of some governors from the zone, but his reaction was volatile but I kept my calm as a leader.”
Abdulkadir added that even when El-Rufai threatened to beat him up, he kept his calm considering the volatility of the state in terms of political reactions.
He said that though a reconciliation committee had been constituted under the chairmanship of Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State, the committee did not enjoy the cooperation of El-Rufai.
He said: “The committee is yet to conclude its assignment, but I understand that Mallam El-Rufai is yet to give it the necessary cooperation.”
Abdulkadir therefore urged the Kaduna State governor to give the committee the necessary cooperation for the ultimate objective of restoring peace, unity and consolidation of the party’s support in the state.