Rage over Kuje Council Chairman’s quit notice threat to non-APC members; Residents vow to move against him
Rage over Kuje Council Chairman’s quit notice threat to non-APC members; Residents vow to move against him
By Mohammed Sule
Residents of Kuje Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja have lambasted the Council chairman, Samuel Danjuma Shekwolo, who issued a quit notice to non-members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) planning to vote against the party in next year’s general elections.
Shekwolo, had in a trending video on the social media, ordered residents opposed to APC to leave the area council ahead of the 2027 general elections.
While arguing that residents should support the ruling party in view of development projects executed in Kuje by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, he vowed to use his office to oppose efforts by residents to work against the APC, warning: “I have said in my area council that it’s either you are for the APC or you leave the area council. I am not arguing about it at all.”
However, the development has triggered condemnations and criticisms from the residents who insisted that it has rather brought more hatred against the ruling party.
AbeyaNews which visited the Area Council can confirm that the threat was the topic of discussion in the markets, lockup shops, and along the roads, with many of the residents attacking him for forgetting so soon that Kuje is a traditional Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) political enclave.
Vowing to move against him if he tries to actualise his threat in a chat with our correspondent, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kuje Council chapter Chairman, Philip Waziri, said that though the opposition party will make an official statement after studying the video, the threat from the Council chairman breached the fundamental human right to free association.
He said: “For now, we don’t have an official statement on this matter, however, everyone knows that such a comment ought not come from a leader. Ordinarily, everyone knows that the threat was very wrong and uncalled for. We are in a democracy where everyone has the right and freedom of association.”
“We have many political parties in the country and the constitution guarantees everyone to associate with any of the parties. I don’t know what actually came over him because he is not supposed to make such utterance as a leader,” Waziri noted in condemnation.
A resident of Kuje and member of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) who spoke on anonymity said: “As a political opponent, I don’t want to give out my full identity. It is not a statement that should come from a leader.”
“In the first place, does he have any right or authority to stop anybody from voting the candidate of their choice? The funny thing is that he will even be in Rubochi not in Kuje on the day of the election. Will he send mercenaries to monitor those that voted for who?
“How can he tell those that will vote against the APC to park out of Kuje as if the Area Council belongs to him. I won’t lose sleep over the threat from him to leave to anywhere. I don’t see any sense in that statement.
“Come to think about it, Kuje has never been an APC Council. It has always been PDP. I am not going to be under any pressure or even feel threatened over the comment. As an elder, I want to advise him to refrain from making such an inflammatory statement,” he cautioned.
Another resident, who simply identified himself as Yakubu, fuming over the comment, said: “For a Council Chairman to make such statement, I believe he should go for psychiatric treatment because he must be running mad. It shows that he lacks respect for fundamental human rights because he doesn’t understand the core values of life.
“If he insists on the threat, I can assure you that the residents will definitely rise up against him to let him understand that democracy is about the people not an autocratic leader. I will definitely vote even if my vote will not count.
