Tension as APM chairman suspended ahead of 2027 elections

• A faction of the Allied Peoples Movement executives in Bauchi announced the suspension of chairman Auwal Isah Mai Takalminroba over alleged constitutional violations
• The crisis followed the defection of Governor Bala Mohammed and PDP loyalists to the APM, with the faction claiming the chairman altered executive committee membership lists
• The factional Publicity Secretary disputed the secretary's authority, signalling deeper divisions within the party's Bauchi structure, creating a potential setback for its presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde

A faction of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in Bauchi State has announced the suspension of the party's chairman, Auwal Isah Mai Takalminroba, citing alleged financial misconduct, poor record-keeping, and what it described as unconstitutional management of party affairs.

The party's Secretary, Mohammed Nasir Yahaya, made the announcement on Wednesday before journalists, flanked by other executive members. The faction also named Hon. Nasiru Nuru Marafa as interim chairman pending a resolution of the dispute.

What triggered the APM crisis

Yahaya said the problems began after Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed and several government officials defected to the APM. He alleged that the chairman subsequently altered the names on the party's state executive committee list to include individuals who were not original members, specifically loyalists of the state government and former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members who crossed over alongside the governor.

Tribune reported that the faction further alleged that the governor's camp demanded 70 per cent control of the APM's leadership structure in Bauchi, leaving original members with just 30 per cent. A harmonisation committee was set up to address the disagreement but sat for only four days before its work was suspended indefinitely.

Yahaya said the group later received word of plans to hold a stakeholders' meeting, which it objected to on the grounds that no harmonisation had taken place. The faction wrote separately to both the APM's national leadership and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to flag its concerns and formally notify them of the chairman's suspension.

Among the 28 members of the state executive committee, Yahaya claimed that only Mai Takalminroba had been actively involved in the APM's activities in Bauchi since 2018.

He added that the faction had raised its concerns directly with Governor Mohammed, who reportedly gave assurances that the matter would be settled amicably. The development is a setback for the party's presidential candidate in the 2027 election, Seyi Makinde, who is the current governor of Oyo

Party divided over the move

The suspension has not gone unchallenged within the party. The factional Publicity Secretary, AbdulShakur Danlami Mohammed, disputed Yahaya's claim to the position of party secretary, though he stopped short of denying that the aggrieved members were part of the APM. Mohammed said the party's official position on the matter would be released at a later date.

The standoff leaves the APM's Bauchi leadership structure contested, with the party's national body yet to issue a formal response.

States APM will defeat Tinubu, APC: Makinde's camp

Legit.ng earlier reported that the Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation named 12 states where it said Seyi Makinde would beat President Bola Tinubu.

The campaign body accused Tinubu's inner circle of fuelling public resentment through political arrogance amid growing economic hardship.

The MDPCO pitched Makinde's RESET NIGERIA agenda as a practical alternative to Tinubu's Renewed Hope programme.

Source: Legit.ng