Leadership dispute has erupted within the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Zamfara State, with a coalition of eight political parties declaring that the council currently has no legitimate state leadership.
Speaking at a press briefing in Gusau on Saturday, the coalition’s chairman and Zamfara Chairman of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), Alhaji Adamu Haruna, said the election that produced the current IPAC leadership was unlawful and unconstitutional.
Haruna stated, “On behalf of the coalition of G8 political parties, we want to make it clear to the general public that the election which produced the leadership of IPAC in Zamfara was not lawful. In fact, it was unconstitutional.”
He added, “Any activity conducted by the leaders of the political parties is not done under the council because the council currently has no leadership.”
The coalition also distanced itself from a recent press conference organised by the disputed leadership, insisting it was not aware of the event and had already petitioned the IPAC national headquarters in Abuja.
Haruna further said, “We want to make it categorically clear that the eight political parties that constitute part of IPAC are not aware of the conference.”
He accused the organisers of unfairly criticising the state and federal governments, arguing that IPAC’s role is to promote internal democracy among political parties rather than condemn governments.
However, Zamfara IPAC Chairman, Sulaiman Bungudu, dismissed the allegations and maintained that the election was conducted in line with due process.
According to Bungudu, “I want to make it clear that our election was conducted by the national representative from IPAC headquarters, Abuja, under the supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”
He urged the G8 coalition to work with the existing leadership, saying, “I am therefore calling on the G8 coalition to come and join hands with us to holistically contribute to the success of democracy.”
