No faction in APM – Bagana clears air on Makinde, Bala Mohammed’s defection

A former Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, Muhammad Musa Bagana, has insisted that there is no faction in the party.

Bagana was reacting to defection of Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed and the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, and their supporters to the party.

He described the governors’ defection to APM as a giant step forward in the quest for sustainable democracy and development in Nigeria.

There were reports at the weekend that the founding leaders of APM are leaving no stone unturned to reclaim what they describe as the rightful ownership of the party, which they said was established by the pioneer Board of Trustees chairman, Bagana.

The report, which described Bagana as the chairman of the party, went further to describe the national Chairman of the party Yusuf Mamman Dantalle as a factional chairman, adding that there were moves to institute a legal battle to stop Dantalle, who doubles as the Chairman of the Inter Party Advisory Council, IPAC, from parading himself as the national chairman of the party.

The report said that Dantalle was being challenged at the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal set aside the Federal High Court judgment which had recognized Bagana’s faction as the authentic executive  committee.

However, reacting in a statement on Monday, Bagana rejected the report, saying that the movement of the governors to the party has attracted the envy of anti-democratic and reactionary forces who want to destabilise the party with fake news of a faction.

Bagana said, “Although l once had a political disagreement with the APM National Chairman, Dr Yusuf Dantalle, that misunderstanding had long been amicably resolved, settled and reconciled. There is no leadership case in any court in Nigeria between Mohammed Bagana and Yusuf Dantalle.

“I was shocked to read about the Bagana faction of the party dismissing the defection of Governors Bala Mohammed and Seyi Makinde to APM in a statement purportedly signed by one Muhammed Bello who claimed to be the spokesman for the so-called faction. It is fake news emanating from mischief makers and figments of their fertile imaginations.

“I don’t know anything about the statement, I did not authorise it and don’t have any spokesman.

“The public should ignore these peddlers of fake news and agents of political destabilization in this crucial electoral season. Their mission is well known to all discerning citizens – create imaginary faction and litigation to discourage new members and scare away intending ones from joining the party. Their antics are well known to Nigerians.

“APM is united and strong under the leadership of Dr Yusuf Mamman Dantalle. The INEC website is there to verify the authentic leadership of any political party.

“I therefore disclaim the statement aligning me to a faction APM. It is not true.”