A political support group backing former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expelled his son, Abba Atiku Abubakar, and rejected his instruction for members to defect to the All Progressives Congress.
The Atiku Haske Organisation said Abba has no power to dictate the group’s political decisions and accused him of never making any financial contribution to the organization since he joined.
The controversy began on Thursday when Abba publicly defected to the APC and told coordinators and members of what he called his political structure to follow him to the ruling party and back President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He also announced that the group should change its name to the Haske Bola Tinubu Organisation.
But in a strong response issued in Abuja on Sunday, January 18, the group’s founder and convener, Mai Nagge Bakari, dismissed Abba’s claims and directives, saying he was only invited to be part of the organization and never founded it.
Bakari made it clear that Abba has never funded any of the group’s activities and doesn’t even have custody of its registration certificate.
“We founded the Atiku Haske Organisation and merely invited Abba to join the group. He has neither contributed a naira to the activities of the organisation nor possesses its certificate of registration,” Bakari said.
“We are therefore under no obligation to adhere to any directive issued by him. On the contrary, he is subject to our regulations and has fallen short of our expectations. He has accordingly been dismissed as a member.”
The organisation stated that its members have collectively agreed to leave the Peoples Democratic Party for the African Democratic Congress and have no interest in joining the APC or any other party.
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Bakari said Abba’s actions violated the group’s agreements and principles, which is why he has been thrown out.
“The Atiku Haske Organisation is not a party to, nor interested in, defecting to any political party other than the African Democratic Congress. We were formerly in the PDP and resolved collectively to move to the ADC,” he said.
“What Abba has done is contrary to our resolutions, values and principles, and he is hereby expelled from the organisation.
“We remain resolute in our conviction that His Excellency Atiku Abubakar is the best candidate to advance our objectives.”
The group declared that Abba’s directive means nothing and challenged him to start his own organization if he wants, while warning him to stop claiming membership of the Atiku Haske Organisation.
“The directive issued by Abba is a nullity and is dead on arrival. We challenge him to form his own group if he has the capacity to do so, and urge him to desist from identifying himself as a member of our organisation,” the statement concluded.
Abba’s defection took place at the National Assembly complex in Abuja on Thursday, where the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, and other APC leaders from the North-East welcomed him.
During the event, he declared his support for President Tinubu’s potential second term, praising Senator Barau’s leadership and the current administration’s policies.
He told members of the Haske Atiku Organisation, which he said was established in 2022, to join the APC and work for the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Reports indicate that after his defection, Abba’s faction announced the group had been renamed the Haske Bola Tinubu Organisation as part of efforts to support President Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.