Stakeholders in Daura Local Government Area (LGA), under the umbrella of Concerned Daura Citizens, have distanced themselves from the endorsement of Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda, for re-election.
The group reacted on Tuesday in Daura to the endorsement of the governor by stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Muhammad Lawal-Nalado said the APC stakeholders who announced the endorsement did not represent the people of Daura.
“They claimed to speak on behalf of Daura people, but we are not aware of that decision,” he said.
Lawal-Nalado, a former National Chairman of the Accord Party, therefore distanced himself and other residents of Daura from the endorsement.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Concerned Daura Citizens comprise members of the Accord Party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the APC.
According to him, the endorsement was carried out without the consent of the wider Daura community and should not be presented as the collective position of the people.
“What happened yesterday was purely an APC affair. They have the right to endorse whoever they want as a political party, but they do not have the right to speak on behalf of all the people of Daura. We were never consulted.
“We were never invited, and our views were never sought. You cannot sit in a small corner and take decisions on behalf of the Daura people. You do not know what is in my mind or in the minds of many others,” he said.
Lawal-Nalado added that while APC members in Daura were free to endorse Governor Radda and President Bola Tinubu, it was wrong to suggest that the entire Daura community supported the endorsement.
“Even some APC members came to our meeting today to protest that they were not part of the so-called endorsement. In fact, not more than 50 people gathered and claimed they were representing all of Daura,” he said.
Lawal-Nalado, a two-time Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), stressed that his position was not driven by personal dissatisfaction with the APC-led governments at either the state or national levels.
Also speaking at the event, an APC member from Daura, Jamilu Yusuf, denied knowledge of the endorsement and distanced himself from it.
“The endorsement of Governor Radda and President Bola Tinubu does not reflect the true position of the party. Some individuals did it for selfish reasons. We were not informed, and it was not a collective decision,” Yusuf said.
Similarly, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nura Ibrahim-Marafa, rejected the endorsement, saying it did not represent the voice of Daura citizens.
