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 further criticised the selection of the current APC leadership, claiming that INEC’s observations revealed major irregularities in the process. “The report shows that proper elections were not held in most wards and LGs. The leadership was imposed rather than democratically elected,” Dabang argued.
He pointed to the Crest Hotel incident, where the state party officers were “elected,” as a further illustration of the problems. He alleged that many officers did not even participate in the process and were simply appointed by the power holders of the time.
Dabang specifically cited the case of APC Chairman Hon. Rufus Bature, who he claimed was “announced as the anointed candidate” despite others having purchased nomination forms. He explained how attempts to resolve the issue through the courts were unsuccessful.
“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.”
