By Nyam Peter
The All Progressives Congress in Benue State has disqualified 59 aspirants from contesting its forthcoming House of Assembly primaries over alleged violations of party guidelines and constitutional provisions.
The decision followed the screening of 146 aspirants by the party’s screening committee, out of which 86 were cleared to proceed to the primaries or emerge through consensus arrangements.
A copy of the committee’s report, signed by Chairman Auwalu Ishiye and Secretary Tijjani Abdullahi, indicated that the disqualified aspirants failed to comply with the party’s guidelines and constitution.
However, the party said the affected aspirants have the right to appeal the decision.
Speaking on the development, the State Organising Secretary of the APC in Benue State, James Ornguga, said an appeal committee had already begun sitting on petitions submitted by aggrieved aspirants.
According to him, the Screening Appeal Committee, led by Alhaji Lawal Abubakar, has commenced review of complaints from aspirants dissatisfied with the outcome of the exercise.
He explained that many of the disqualifications were linked to inconsistencies in documents submitted by aspirants.
Ornguga said the appeal panel would compare petitions with submitted records to determine whether any aspirants were wrongly disqualified.
He added that where errors are found, affected aspirants could still be reinstated and their names published accordingly.
“The committee is working on that already.
Some people have already filed complaints. If there is merit, they will be cleared. The party holds no grudge against anyone,” he said.
He stressed that the screening process was carried out diligently and without bias, insisting that the party was not engaging in any form of witch-hunt.
Ornguga listed some of the reasons for disqualification to include failure of nominators to meet membership requirements, insufficient number of nominators, age discrepancies, and inconsistencies in academic qualifications.
He explained that all nominators are required to be financial members of the party, adding that failure to meet such conditions could lead to disqualification.
He also noted that aspirants are expected to present the required number of nominators as stipulated in the guidelines.
Ornguga maintained that the screening committee acted strictly within party rules, describing the process as thorough and fair to all contestants.
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