Aisha Alhassan shows off her new membership card
A former minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, on Saturday
defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to United
Democratic Party, UDP.
Before joining UDP, Mrs Alhassan resigned from President Muhammadu
Buhari’s cabinet today, following her disqualification by the ruling
party to contest for governor of Taraba State.
On Thursday, the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party took
the decision to axe Mrs Alhasan and another minister Adebayo Shittu
based on the report of the party’s Governorship Aspirants Screening
Committee.
Mr Shittu is aspiring to become the governor of Oyo State, while
Mrs Alhassan, popularly known as Mama Taraba, is gunning for Taraba
governor.
The minister’s letter of resignation read in part: “I write
with a lot of respect to infor Mr President of my decision to resign my
appointment as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and as a
member of the All Progressives Congress APC).”
Mrs Alhassan further said in the letter that she “had always
been a very committed committed party member and was at no time queried
or admonished for any wrong doing or unconstitutional behaviour.”
“Up to the time of writing this letter, no reason was given by
the Party for my disqualification to contest election under the APC.”
At the UDP secretariat in the state, Mrs Alhassan said she dumped the APC because of the injustice meted on her.
She said she is joining the UDP alongside all her supporters.
A report by Daily Nigerian revealed that she defected alongside
seven APC members of the State House of Assembly, a member of the House
of Representatives and all the APC executives in the 16 local government
areas and 169 wards of the state.