Sokoto CPC gubernatorial primary: “I won,” Says Yusuf Yabo
“No, you did not!” CPC State Secretary, Garba Bello
By Abdallah el-Kurebe

Sokoto – The battle for the governorship ticket of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC in Sokoto state rages on with claims and counter-claims between an aspirants, Alhaji Dahiru Yusuf Yabo and the State Chapter of the party at the party congress, which took place recently.

Alhaji Yusuf Yabo, who was said to have been declared by the CPC Committee that conducted the primaries in Sokoto, told a press conference, Friday that he was the authentic winner of the party’s governorship primaries in the state.

He maintained that since he was duly declared as the winner of the governorship primary by the Committee detailed from the CPC headquarters to conduct the elections, he remains the governorship candidate of the CPC in the state.

“Shortly after I was declared the winner of the primary by the Committee that came to conduct the election from CPC headquarters headed by Colonel Abdullah, the purported
State Chairman of the party, Alhaji Cika Ainu announced one Engineer Abubakar Yabo as the winner of the primaries,” Yusuf Yabo lamented.

He stressed that the results announced by the purported CPC state chairman was null and
void and of no effect whatsoever as, according to him, “the electoral act provides that it is only the CPC Committee Chairman, Colonel Abdullah, who was sent by the National headquarters, that has the power to declare the winner of the primary election and not the State Chairman.

Yusuf Yabo claimed that the purported CPC State Chairman, Cika Ainu’s phantom congress conducted last two weeks, was declared null and void by the National headquarters and Ainu,
subsequently suspended from the party.

“As you are aware, there is no elected Chairman in CPC at the moment. The former Chairman of CPC in Sokoto, Cika Ainu conducted a phantom congress and it was not recognized by the National headquarters, which later cancelled it. So, as far as we are concerned, Ainu is not a member of CPC,” Yusuf said.

While cautioning Ainu to stop parading himself as the chairman of the party in the state since, according to him, the executive council of the party had been dissolved, Yusuf Yabo called on party supporters to disregard the antics of the purported chairman, pointing out that Ainu
was bent on creating confusion within the ranks in the party.

Meanwhile, in a letter to the Nigeria Union of Journalists, signed by the State Secretary of the Party, a copy of which was made to the Correspondents’ Chapel, stated categorically that Engineer Abubakar Yabo won the party’s guber primary conducted on January 12th 2011.

“The State Chapter of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, wishes to draw your attention that the party’s primary election held on 12th January, 2011 was not won by Dahiru Yusuf Yabo as he claims but was won by Engineer Abubakar Aliyu Yabo,,” the letter stated adding, “At the moment, the case is before the CPC national headquarters and INEC,
Abuja.”

The letter further challenged Yusuf Yabo to produce any evidence to prove otherwise. “In view of the above, the Sokoto state Chapter of the party demands that you ask the said Dahiru Yusuf Yabo if he has any evidence to prove otherwise. Dahiru has no right whatsoever to
parade himself as the gubernatorial candidate of the party in Sokoto State,” the letter concluded.