NDC on warpath, security beefed up

Disgruntled youth of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Northern Region have vowed to burn down the regional secretariat of the party if by the close of Monday the national leadership fails to meet their demands.

The youth further warned that the current regional executives headed by Chief Sofo Azorka would taste their fury if they tried to intervene in the matter.

According to the NDC youth, until a particular clause in the election guidelines was expunged to pave way for some individuals to contest for positions as regional executives, they were not prepared to back down on their threats.

This resulted in security being beefed up at the northern regional secretariat of the party.

Soldiers On Patrol

Since Monday, armed police and military personnel had been stationed at various locations of the party’s secretariat and the city to prevent the youth from causing mayhem.

But the youth, who called into various local radio stations on Thursday, claimed they were not deterred by the presence of soldiers and police and would go ahead to burn down the edifice if by the close of Monday their concerns were not fully met.

The disagreement had been occasioned by what the youth termed the smuggling in of item 6(c) in the guidelines for the election of officers which dealt with qualification for regional executive positions.

The clause stipulates in clause vi that “in addition, a member of the party shall not qualify to vie for regional executive position unless the member has, prior to seeking election, held an executive position in the constituency”.

This clause, according to them, was unfortunate because it infringed on chapter 8, Article 42(1f) of the NDC constitution which is applicable to only National Executive Committee positions.

They therefore petitioned the NEC through the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, to look into the matter or incur their wrath in the coming days.

But the party’s Regional Treasurer and Director of Operations Tanko Rashid ‘Computer’, in reaction to the incident, said the decision was taken by the

National

Executive Committee, and described the accusations as unfounded, appealing to the aggrieved members to petition NEC instead.

He confirmed the presence of armed security at the party’s secretariat but was quick to add that their presence was to avert any possible attack as well as maintain law and order.

“Yes we picked up signals of that nature, that some people are aggrieved and I must say they are ill-informed and busily misinforming party members. That’s why I’m appealing to them to come to the secretariat for proper briefing than listen to someone who does not understand all these things who will spoil their mind and give them wrong briefing and then they take the law into their own hands and end up jeopardising the image of the party”.

He expressed worry over the conduct of the party’s youth but hinted that the secretariat was aware of the conduct of some mischievous members of the party who were out there misinforming other people.

Meanwhile, DAILY GUIDE has gathered that a meeting between the Northern Regional Minister and the aggrieved group was inconclusive and there are plans to schedule another meeting in order to calm tempers to avert possible clashes.

Signals DAILY GUIDE however picked indicated that the party risked having a split front if the matter was not properly addressed, with certain bigwigs endorsing the action of the youth who had vowed to stop at nothing until their demands were met.

But Northern Regional Chairman of the NDC, Sofo Awudu Azorka had called the bluff of the youth, promising to face them if they attempted anything silly.

According to him, they were not the only members of the party and had no right to hold the party hostage just because their demands had not been met.