APC disqualifies Shittu and Mama Taraba from contesting for Oyo and Taraba governorship slots

COMMUNICATIONS minister Adebayo Shittu and his women affairs counterpart Hadjia Aisha Alhassan have been disqualified from participating in the All Progressives Congress' (APC) forthcoming governorship primary elections in their respective Oyo and Taraba states.

Mr Shittu has been the subject of a lot of controversy lately after it emerged that he did not participate in the mandatory one year National youth Service Corp (NYSC) programme after graduating from university. Yesterday, the APC's screening committee decided not to accept his bid to run for the governorship of Oyo State based on this and his name was dropped from the full list of aspirants cleared to contest in 26 states by the party.

Yekini Nabena, the APC spokesman, said Mr Shittu was not cleared because he does not possess the NYSC certificate. Yesterday, the list of all aspirants was endorsed by the party's national working committee.

Earlier in his reaction to the scandal, Mr Shittu declared that his own issue was different from that of former finance minister Kemi Adeosun, who resigned of her NYSC certificate scandal. According to him, whereas in the case of Ms Adeosun there was the case of the presentation of a fake exemption certificate, he never obtained any certificate.

Mr Shittu said: “I left university in 1978 and left law school in 1979 and the constitution says anyone who qualifies to contest an election or who has gone through an election and wins, he is obligated to move through the House of Assembly which I did for four years, so it is a form of higher service as far as I’m concerned and even now, I am still in service. There is a world of difference as unfortunately, Kemi had a fake certificate but I didn’t present any.

"I didn’t have one. I simply followed the constitutional requirement that if you are qualified to contest an election, it is compulsory for you to serve the nation in the capacity that you won an election.”

Minister of women's affairs, Hadjia Alhassan, popularly known as Mama Taraba, was also disqualified by the screening committee of the party. Although no reason was given, it is believed that she was rejected because of her recent stance that she will back former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for president in next year's elections.

Last year, Hadjia Alhassan, who was the APC's governorship candidate in 2015, declared that she will back former Alhaji Atiku Abubakar against President Muhammadu Buhari in February 2019 when elections hold. Alhaji Abubakar who stood against President Buhari in the APC's 2014 primaries, has since defected to the Peoples Democratic Party and is now seeking its presidential ticket.

However, it is believed in some quarters that her disqualification was not unconnected to the video that trended last year, which showed Mama Taraba pledging her loyalty to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in any case he decides to contest the 2019 presidency against incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari.

Mama Taraba made in clear that the former vice president has been her mentor and godfather.  Following her pronouncement, the APC recently replaced members of the Taraba State working committee with a new caretaker committee as most of the former members were loyal to Hadjia Alhassan.