The All Progressives Congress, APC has opened up on why it chose Dr Abdullahi Ganduje as its new national chairman despite the viral video of the former governor allegedly stuffing dollars said to be bribes from contract kickbacks.
The party made its assertions in rebuff of the mockery generated by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Labour Party and some critics on social media.
Party spokesman, Mr Felix Morka speaking on Arise News Television on Thursday hours after Ganduje was elected the new chairman said that there was no evidence of the former governor being convicted or arraigned before the court of law over the videos.
Morka also disputed the authenticity of the viral videos saying that the dollar videos as they were dubbed could be a work of social media.
He said: “I happen to be a lawyer. You don’t taint anyone with any kind of guilt unless it has been properly brought before a court of competent jurisdiction and actually given the time to defend himself. So, I am not interested in the allegations that are bandied.
“We have courts of law and if anyone in this country on anyone including Dr Ganduje, our new national chairman, we have courts of law where those issues are dealt with. They are not dealt with in the media because otherwise every individual has a right to be presumed innocent. The fact that anyone makes an allegation does not in any way ascertain the guilt of that individual. So, I leave it there,” Morka said as he claimed ignorance of the videos.
“Social media is replete with all sorts of things. I will leave it at there but all I say is that with respect to our new national chairman if there are any thing that any citizen may have against him, I say that that belongs to the court of law.”
On the qualities that the APC saw in investing Ganduje as he dismissed the dollar videos, Morka said: “Former Governor Ganduje is about one of the most experienced public servants. He has been in the system for well over 40 years. There is about no position he has not held. So, he comes with an overload of experience, not just on matters of the party, but also as a seasoned intellectual. “Somebody who has had a track record of remarkable accomplishments in all of his endeavours from the local government system to the state system to being deputy governor and being governor. He has done everything that needs to be done.”
