Former All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman Hon. Latep Dabang, now Political Adviser to Governor Mutfwang, has declared that the party’s structure in Plateau State has been in ruins since 2021 due to the lack of internal democracy. Dabang, speaking to newsmen in Jos, argued that contrary to claims about the PDP’s lack of structure, the APC has lost its political foundation. He cited the flawed 2021 party congresses as evidence of this collapse.
“The purported congresses were a sham,” Dabang said. “There were widespread complaints and protests, clearly demonstrating that internal democracy was not upheld.”
He also lambasted the current APC leadership, stating that INEC’s findings indicated substantial anomalies in the process. “According to the report, proper elections were not held in the majority of wards and LGs.” Dabang stated that the leadership was imposed rather than freely elected.
He cited the Crest Hotel episode, in which state party officers were “elected,” as another example of the difficulties. He claimed that many officers did not even take part in the process and were merely selected by those in authority at the time.
Dabang especially mentioned APC Chairman Hon. Rufus Bature, who he claimed was “announced as the anointed candidate” despite the fact that others had purchased candidature forms. He described how attempts to resolve the matter through the courts were futile.
“We in the PDP considered this an internal APC problem and did not interfere,” Dabang said. “However, if we had known that PDP could exploit another party’s internal issues, we could have done the same with the evidence we had from INEC about the flawed congresses.”
