•Says he’s looking for excuse to leave

By Soni Daniel

The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Gombe State, has expressed dismay over what it described as a clear volte-face by Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje on the reconciliation between him and Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya spearheaded by the party’s national leadership.

Recall that Goje had on Sunday claimed that the reconciliation moves spearheaded by the leadership of the party to unite the various factions in the state had stalled and that nobody should blame him for whatever misfortunate that could befall the party in the next election if the cracks were not mended at once.

But the APC in Gombe State, yesterday, countered the former governor, saying that he was simply looking for an excuse to leave the party and join the opposition party, saying that the peace deal had been implemented accordingly.

The party in a statement by the state Publicity Secretary, Ambassador Moses Kyari, and made available to Vanguard yesterday, said it was appalling that Goje would come out to accuse the state governor of jettisoning the reconciliation arrangement, saying the Gombe Central Senator was only looking for an accuse to dump the APC.

The party cited recent moves by top leaders of the PDP to woo Senator Goje back into the party as clear indication that the former governor was not speaking the truth regarding the reconciliation made by the party.

The party said: “It is all an arrangement by Goje himself to find a lame excuse to leave the APC. This has been his style for those that know his political trajectory. The APC national leadership should take note of this.

“We note that Goje’s game is to always portray himself as too important and relevant in the affairs of the party without recourse to other leaders of the party in the state,” Kyari noted.

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The Gombe APC said it was happy after the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee met with both Governor Yahaya and Senator Goje recently in Abuja and reconciled the two top Gombe politicians, both of whom were satisfied with the efforts.

It particularly noted the efforts of the APC national reconciliation committee headed by Senator Abdullahi Adamu, which had met with both Governor Yahaya and Senator Goje separately before the expanded meeting with the Buni-led leadership.

The party also lamented a recent message by one of Goje’s aides, Adamu Muhammad Manga, that the reconciliation done was only in line with Islamic reconciliation but that the political reconciliation was not yet arrived at was most unfortunate.

The APC said it believed Manga, who is a personal assistant to Goje, had his principal’s nod to go to town with the announcement, following a move by some good citizens of Gombe to organize a dinner to celebrate the reconciliation brokered by the APC national leadership.

Adamu Manga, in an audio message, called on Goje’s supporters to disregard the planned event and asked them to await the senator’s camp on the political reconciliation.

The party challenged Sen. Goje to come out and debunk the announcement made by Manga, who distanced his principal from the dinner being organized, an indication that the APC reconciliation efforts amount to a waste of time and therefore undermining the leadership of the party.

It equally called on the APC national leadership to take immediate action to call Goje to order to avoid escalation of the misunderstanding and for their efforts not to go in vain.

Vanguard News Nigeria