Arrest: Borno ANPP officials disown state chairman PrintEmail Category: Inside politics Published on Friday, 12 July 2013 06:01 Written by Hamza Idris, Maiduguri Share Senator Ali Sherrif Key figures of the ruling All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in Borno State are distancing themselves from the embattled state chairman of the party, Alhaji Mala Othman who is in the custody of the Joint Task Force (JTF) for alleged sponsorship of terrorists activities. Othman has been the state chairman of the party right from the days of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and has remained loyal to the former governor till date, a stand which has not gone down well with some ANPP stalwarts in the state, some sources in the ruling party said. It was gathered that there are moves by some people in the current administration to weed out ANPP members that are loyal to the former governor, pointing out that the arrest of Othman is the beginning of the exercise. It was also gathered that the embattled chairman may likely be removed from office when the state working committee of the party meets in the next few days. Our correspondent recalls that suspected members of the youths vigilante group (Civilian JTF) have on Monday, 1st July, 2013 allegedly stormed the residence of the party chairman at the GRA in Maiduguri and set it ablaze after realizing that he was sneaked out of the house. Few days after the incident, the state chapter of the party issued a statement which was signed by its secretary Bakura Shettima and Alhaji Dan Jatau, the leader of the ANPP chairmen from the 27 local government areas of the state in which they condemned the arrest of the chairman, describing it as politically motivated. The secretary of the party has however distanced himself from the travails of his chairman. He made what appears like a U-turn while talking to newsmen in Maiduguri and stressed that his signature was forged. “I am not aware of anything pertaining to Mala Othman, I did not sign any document condemning his arrest or exonerating him,” Shettima said. JTF spokesman, Lt Col Sagir Musa had confirmed that the state chairman of the ANPP was being investigated and findings of the interrogation will be made public. On the other hand, former Governor Sheriff who is also the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the ANPP had issued a statement condemning the arrest of Mala Othman. The statement, which was signed by his spokesman, Umar Duhu said Othman was arrested in connection with activities of ‘ECOMOG’, a political wing of the ANPP that have nothing to do with the Boko Haram sect.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 16:25:55 +0000
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