The moves by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to reconcile its members suffered fresh setbacks even as the deadline for the substitution of governorship and House of Assembly candidates as contained in the election timetable ends tomorrow.

According to the schedule of the 2019 elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), December 1 is the last day for the withdrawal/replacement of candidates which some politicians are trying hard to join other parties. December 1 is also the day for the commencement of campaign for governorship and state assembly seats.

Loyalists of Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun dumped the APC, while those loyal to his Imo State counterpart Rochas Okorocha get set to announce their new party today.

Amosun’s preferred candidate for the Ogun governorship seat Rep. Adekunle Akinlade (Yewa South/Ipokia) dumped the APC for the Allied People’s Movement (APM) and has since obtained the party’s ticket to vie for the governorship seat.

Back in Ogun, four members of the State House of Assembly also dumped APC for the APM. They include the Majority Leader, Adeyinka Mafe; Chief Whip, Idowu Olowofuja (Abeokuta South 2); Tunde Sanusi (Obafemi-Owode); and Ganiyu Oyedeji (Ifo 2).

The APC chairman in Ogun State, Derin Adebiyi, described the defection Akinlade and the state legislators as shocking.

In Imo State, Okorocha said the current situation in the state chapter of the party makes reconciliation impossible.

Okorocha had on Tuesday said that his son-in-law and preferred gubernatorial candidate, Uche Nwosu, would be contesting the governorship election in another party.

Nwosu had lost the APC ticket to Senator Hope Uzodinma.

Judge withdraws from suit in Zamfara

Justice Muktar Yusha’u of the High Court in Gusau has declined jurisdiction in the case seeking to accept the results of the party’s primaries conducted on October 7.

The Governor Abdulaziz Yari faction of the party had chosen Alhaji Mukhtar Idris as its preferred gubernatorial candidate; while the other faction led by Deputy Governor Ibrahim Wakkala and Senator Kabiru Marafa among others kicked.

Justice Yusha’u said the circumstances surrounding the case would not allow the court to deliver transparent justice.

He, therefore, returned the case file to the chief judge of the state to be reassigned to another judge for determination.

•Excerpted from a Daily Trust report

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