Crisis brews in All Blending Party as BoT, NEC reject presidential candidate

The All Blending Party (ABP) has announced that contrary to media reports, the national chairman of the party, Moses Godiya Shipi is not its presidential candidate for the 2019 general elections.

The party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) and National Executive Council (NEC) stated this on Tuesday, adding that Shipi has allegedly turned the party into a personal affair, taking unilateral and unpopular decisions in a desperate bid to take control of the party’s structures.

Members of the ABP BoT and NEC led by Eric Anan, John Abel Obi and Prince Moses Akor in a statement on Tuesday lamented that against the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act, Shipi has continued to hold the position of national chairman and presidential candidate of the party.

The party in taking the position, warned that anyone who deals with Shipi In that regards would be doing so at their own peril, as it has addressed a petition to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rejecting the candidature of Shipi.

Anan who stated that Shipi is not fit to represent the party in any election, said the chairman declared himself presidential candidate of the party without a convention, congress or primary election, and that he allegedly “put together a kangaroo meeting, made up of his family members and associates, with which he hoodwinked INEC, into believing that there was a congress”.

“He unilaterally fixed a date for a convention in Kano and informed us a day to the event, knowing full well that our BoT, NEC and foundation members would not be able to make it there from around the country on time”.

According to the party’s BoT members, a petition had been sent to INEC on the matter, urging it to disregard the list of candidates sent by Shipi.

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They also revealed, that the party had sought a court injunction to annul the convention held in Kano and stop Shipi from presenting himself as the presidential candidate of the ABP, as the convention did not follow the due process

“He is a shady character, and even has a pending case with the EFCC. We also discovered that he was collecting money from aspirants. He knew he would not survive the party’s screening exercise. So he hijacked it and started doling out elective positions to people of his choice without recourse to the founding members of the party.

“We would be better off not fielding a candidate in the presidential elections than have Shipi as our candidate for the poll. We stand for restoration of Nigeria, to wipe out corruption, and we cannot have someone of shady character representing us”.

On claims that Shipi has been sponsoring the party on his own, Anan said, “that is not true. He can fool some people, but he can’t fool all of us. ABP as you know has not merged with any other political party, and Shipi wants to use this to negotiate and sell us out”.

It would be recalled, that the EFCC has on October 27, 2016 arraigned one Moses Godia Shipi, managing director, La Shipson Construction Nigeria Limited before Justice Hussein Baba-Yusufu of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja on a 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N6.5million.

Shippi allegedly conspired with one Harrison Ogar Job (at large) to defraud one Abiola Jacobs of Delmac Nigeria Limited of the said sum under the pretext that he had a contract for the supply of crude oil from the Nigerian National Petroluem Corporation, to Ghana.

Shipi pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him, upon which the counsel to EFCC, Diane Nkwap urged the court to fix a date for trial to commence and asked that the accused person be remanded in prison custody.

But, Shippi’s counsel, Caleb N. Ramnap prayed the court to admit his client to bail adding that the offence is bailable.

Justice Baba-Yusuf admitted the accused person to bail in the sum of N5million with one responsible surety who must be a civil servant not below GL12 or any other person who has a landed property within the FCT.

 

 

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