The All Progressives Congress (APC), governorship candidate in Kogi State, Abubakar Audu, has been described as an antithesis to everything the party stands for.

A group called Concerned Professionals in Kogi APC made this declaration in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

The group described as preposterous and sacrilegious attempts by Audu’s fans to compare him to President Muhammadu Buhari in the context of integrity.

In the statement signed by its chairman, Dr. Obaje Audu, and Scribe, Dr. Aliyu Adeyemi, the group said: “He is an anti-thesis to all our great party stands for. Indicted for several offences of corruption this man through a mastery of the abuse and manipulation of court process has so far evaded conviction and he fully flaunts his success in this direction as a justification to contest elections.”

The group maintained that but for manipulation, Audu was rejected at the primary by the Kogi APC, “out of 4,400 delegates he was, able to get 1,109, which was far less than one quarter of delegates, but won by principle of simple majority. Where are those who will work for a man they roundly rejected?”

The group which expressed worry that a very damaged character, with huge moral baggage is being pitched against an incumbent like Governor Idris Wada, who has no such fraudulent past.

It said: “To all intents and purposes, it is profane and obscene to compare Audu to our dear president in any manner whatsoever. Perhaps the notoriously short memory of Nigerians may have helped to dull the record of egocentrism, and megalomania that propelled the people into rejecting Audu in 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2011.

“This is a man who as state governor constituted himself into an Emperor a title he relished with arrogant abandon.”

The group which recalled Audu s despotic disposition, said he some of the huge lows of Audu’s administration was the acid attack on the very critical Kogi state correspondent for defunct Concord , Alifa Daniel, serial disrespect for the late Attah, Igala, Dr. Aliyu Obaje, sack of Senator Nicholas Ugbane, trumped up charges against Jamal Odiba, et cetera.

The Concerned Kogi APC professionals said further: “Civil servants, pensioners and other citizens had one gory tale to tell under Audu. Civil servants never enjoyed promotion, salaries unpaid, referred to pensioners as ‘dead woods,’ contractors never paid, loans routinely obtained from banks, with no record, a case in point wan N1billion obtained from the Continental Trust Bank which has now fused into UBA, in December 2002, only five months to the election that expelled him from office.”

•Photo shows Audu.

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