Plateau APC Suspension Saga: Group Accuses State Chairman of Misleading party into 2023 Defeat

Following allegations leveled against the leadership of the All Progressives Congress in Plateau State of trying to discard members of the party perceived to be rivals of the immediate past Governor of the State, Simon Lalong, and threats of suspension, a group referred to as ‘Plateau APC Eagle Eyes’ has accused the state party Chairman, Rufus Bature of leading the party into defeat in the just concluded the 2023 General Elections.

In a statement issued by the group with the title “PLATEAU APC UNDER RUFUS BATURE…”, signed by Thomas Dang and made available to Journalists on Wednesday 5th July, they accused Rufus Bature of having added no electoral value to the Party in Plateau State since his emergence as State Chairman.

They also accused the party Chairman of being responsible for the controversial local government primaries in 2021 which produce candidates for the local government elections of October 2021, adding that he replicated same in the 2022 Primaries of the party that produced candidates for the 2023 general elections.

Part of the statement reads “…Bature began by organizing what could be tagged as Local Government Choreography in the name of APC LGA primaries; and followed by a mercilessly flawed and the most insulting LGA elections in the history of the state, causing cracks and the rise of aggrieved camps in the Party.”
According to them, Mr Bature’s previous appointment as Secretary to the Government of Plateau State in 2015 was as a result of the close relationship he had with the Former Governor and not as a result of his display of Political capacity. They went further to state that “Instead of Bature to pay back the benevolence by championing APC into enviable heights, Bature led APC into a pit that led to the total collapse of the party in the state. Under Rufus Bature, APC in Plateau lost Presidential, National Assembly, Governorship and State Assembly elections with the exception of a negligible few.”.

They accused the Plateau APC Chairman of victimizing all delegates who refused to do his biddings of voting for the former Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi, but instead went and voted His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the last Presidential Primaries.

The group used the opportunity to “…call on Rufus Bature to concentrate on redeeming his image and reconciling with all those he injured in our party; an act which brought the total defeat of APC in the state.”

They reminded the party Chairman that “his responsibility is that of a father whose eminent interest is uniting his house and children, not serving as spokesperson to some selected persons like the Former Governor Simon Bako Lalong.”.

They accused the party Chairman of abandoning his constitutional responsibilities in search of ministerial appointment in the Abuja.