By Ibrahim Abubakar

Twenty-five members of the state executive committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have today impeached the chairman of the party Ibrahim Bilal.

They cited gross abuse, corruption, dereliction of duty amongst others as reasons.

Below is the statement of vote of no confidence Passed on Ibrahim Bilal.

Press Release

Vote of no confidence on the chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) Adamawa State, Alh. Ibrahim Bilal over gross misconduct

We the undersigned members of the state executive committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State wish to pass a vote of no confidence on the chairman of Adamawa State chapter of APC, Alh. Ibrahim Bilal, over gross misconduct.

Our resolve to take this line of action follows the failure of the chairman to respond to the allegations of gross misconduct leveled against him as provided for in the constitution. We view his failure to respond to the weighty allegations as acceptance of guilt.

On the 26 August 2022, twenty five members of the state executive committee, issued a formal complaint to three executive officers of the party over constitutional violations which constitute gross misconduct in line with the spirit of fair hearing as provided by the constitution.

The persons involved are the chairman of the party, Alh. Ibrahim Bilal, the secretary of the party, Mr. Raymond D. Chidama and the treasurer of the party Alh. Yahya Hammanjulde. They were given seven day grace to respond to the allegations which elapsed on 1st September 2022.

The secretary and the treasurer duly responded and made convincing submissions and hence cleared their names.

But as at this day, the chairman of the party refused to respond to the grave allegations in other to clear his name. In fact, he has even refused to come to Yola from his Abuja base where he has permanently relocated.

But while he was fiddling in Abuja, the party he is superintending in Adamawa is under serious threat of implosion as a result of unresolved complaints leading to a pent up anger in the party.

There are plethora of petitions at the secretariat addressed to the chairman but he hadn’t sat down at the secretariat for a second for over two months making the petitions to remain unaddressed. That forced some of the complainants to leave the party.

As a result of this gross failure, we hereby resolved to invoke article 21.5 (vi) of the party’s constitution which vested us with the powers to pass a vote of no confidence on him this day of September 2022.

Our complaint against the chairman

1. The chairman has through dubious means deceived the aspirants of the party and collected huge sums of monies from them running into hundreds of millions of naira.

2. The chairman sold many vehicles belonging to the party and did not remit a dime to the secretariat.

3. The chairman has shrouded the finances of the secretariat in secrecy and has been running the affairs of the party like a personal investment with no checks and balances and without auditing since he came on board.

4. The chairman has converted some properties of the secretariat into personal use.

5. The chairman collected huge bribes from the PDP to subvert the recent gubernatorial primaries of APC.

6. He is living in stupendous opulence beyond his legitimate earnings enabling him to have a number of choice properties in Yola and Abuja.

7. The chairman vehemently refused to create the necessary avenue for aggrieved parties to reconcile after the conduct of party primaries.

8. The chairman blatantly refused to congratulate the winner of the gubernatorial primaries of our great party, Sen. Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani on time without any justification even though some party exco have prodded and advised him to do so.

9. The chairman bought an eight seater bus at the cost of N29 million without consultation or due approval of the exco or any organ of the party as stipulated in the constitution.

10. The chairman in a very shameful manner unbecoming of a person holding such important position, threw caution to the wind and physically assaulted former Kebbi state governor, His Excellency Saidu Nasamu Dakin Gari.

11. We have lost confidence in his stewardship on account of his abysmal conduct, disrespect for laid down constitutional provision, and impudence.

12. Anti party activities. The chairman in total contravention of party’s constitutional instruments partake in sublime misconduct by urging the people of his constituency not to vote for the candidate of APC Adamawa north senatorial zone, Sen Ishaku Cliff Abbo but urged them to vote Dr. Abdullahi Belel, the candidate of NNPP through his verified Facebook handle.

Adamawa north senatorial zone remains one of the strongest footholds of our party in the state but for self serving purposes, Bilal is de-marketing the party in the area.

13. He has never informed the party members of donations and contributions he received on behalf of the party.

14. About seven people from the chairman’s House are on the payroll of the party.

15. The chairman bought furniture for the secretariat at the cost of N7 million without any approval, the deal is still shrouded in secrecy.

16. The party sold clearance forms and realized about N100 million but the chairman kept such transactions close to his chest.

17. The chairman deliberately prevented the financial secretary from carrying out his constitutional duty.

18. Absconding from his substantive duty by relocating to Abuja.

19. Refusal to reconcile aspirants after the party primaries. As we write this petition, he is yet to talk to anyone or initiate conciliatory processes to address the concerns of aggrieved parties.

20. Deceived all the gubernatorial aspirants in the state and collected huge sums of monies from them.

21. He has failed over the years to avail the party with financial reports as stipulated by the constitution.

22. Expending the funds of the party without approval of the secretariat.

23. Incompetence. Because of the fact that the chairman is unlettered, he has consistently displayed crass incompetence in discharging his duties. He finds it extremely difficult to attend national functions or any activity in which communication is done in English. Some cases in point include;

i. His failure to attend the first national working committee NWC meeting of our great party.

ii. He also refused to attend the venue of gubernatorial primaries.

Properties he dubiously accumulated

From information at our disposal, Bilal has acquired sundry choice properties beyond his legitimate income which include;

1. Bilmod filling station located at Girei.

2. A filling station under construction at Yola Bypass close to Sani Ribadu’s house.

3. A mansion under construction at Guzape, district of Abuja.

4. A choice property at Wuye, Abuja.

5. A mansion at Shagari phase 1 in Yola.

6. Another mansion at Shagari phase 2 in Yola.

7. A residential house at Dougire, behind GGSS, Yola.

8. Another house very close to Aliyu Mustapha College, Yola.

9. A plot of land at Shagari, Yola. And many plots of land at choice places in Adamawa State.

10. A Shop at Jimeta modern market.

11. A shop near Adamawa state polytechnic, Yola.

12. A number of shops in Mubi.

Party properties which we want the chairman to return to the secretariat.

We would like the chairman to without any delay bring back the properties of the secretariat which he has illegally cornered. They include;

1. Two Marcopolo buses donated to the secretariat by Abdulrauf Modibbo.

2. Three Sienna buses donated to the secretariat by Abdulrauf Modibbo.

3. A picnic bus donated to the secretariat by Omar Suleiman (Dokajin Adamawa).

4. Three bigger versions of Sienna buses donated to the secretariat by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha.

5. A Hilux truck bought with funds from national secretariat of the party.

6. Another Hilux truck which the party bought from Zakari Naiwa.

7. A Sienna bus donated to the secretariat by Eng. Markus Gundiri.

8. 8 seater Hyundai Bus.

Stand of the party from constitutional point of view.

Article 21.2 was clear and unambiguous about anti-party activities. The chairman’s statement urging the people of Adamawa north senatorial zone to vote for Dr. Abdullahi Dauda Belel on his verified Facebook wall, is a classic and clear case of anti-party activity. As party officials, we were amazed and shocked by such outright assault on the party’s constitution. In the same manner, the publication has adversely affected the party and its fortunes and also subjected it to ridicule, contempt and disrepute.

In the same manner, the chairman flagrantly violated Article 23 of the APC constitution as amended which stipulated that the joint signatories of the party’s bank account shall include the chairman, the secretary, the treasurer and the financial secretary.

But in total disregard of the constitution the chairman excluded the financial secretary from carrying out his constitutional duty.

Section 21.5 provides punishment to erring members thus;

The party shall have powers to impose penalties and sanctions on members in accordance with the nature or gravity of offences.

a. Reprimand.
b. Censure
c. Fine.
d. Debarment from holding party office.
e. Removal from party office.
f. Suspension from the party.
g. Expulsion from the party.
h. Debarment from contesting office on the party’s platform.
I. In appreciate circumstances, the pary shall cause the prosecution of the member or erstwhile member of the party concerned.

The number of constitutional breaches hoisted by the chairman are simply mind boggling.

He has entrenched the highest level of corruption, involved in serious dereliction of duty, showcases primitive accumulation of wealth involved in massive abuse of office and perpetrated economic malfeasance, corruption and indiscipline. The chairman also lacks character, carriage and most importantly the educational wherewithal to run a big and complex organization like our great party.

Since his assumption into office, Bilal has converted the party to his personal property and has been unilaterally running the party like his personal investment with blithe regard to code of conduct and other extant procedures guiding the administration of an important institution like our great party.

It is on this premise that we the concerned and discerning exco desirous of restoring the lost glory of the party felt that we must put a stop to this descent before the chairman under whose care the party lost power in the state in 2019 to People’s Democratic Party (PDP) administers the final death knell on it and hence this resolve.

From our investigations and findings, we are able to ascertain that, Bilal has misappropriated over N500,000,000 belonging to the party at the detriment of its growth and welfare of its members to such extent that while the chairman is swimming in opulence and living ostentatious lifestyle, other party excos have become over pauperized and clutching for life support.

As if that is not enough, Bilal has used his vantage position to in the crudest and most despicable manner extort all the aspirants of the party through very dubious schemes archetypal to 419 enabling him to in the most brazen and selfish way conned the aspirants into parting with hundreds of millions of naira to him.

But the most odious of it all is that while he pretends to be a loyalist of APC in the day, he comfortably hobnobs with the PDP in the night because he felt no qualms selling the party to the opposition once the price is right.

We have learnt that this strange and primitive desperation for illicit accumulation has made the chairman to mortgage our party to PDP in Adamawa State in the run up to the last gubernatorial primaries of the party.

Going by the gravity of the offences committed by the chairman, we hereby invoke the above article to pass a vote of no confidence on him and will also charge him to court to answer the various infractions he committed.

Thank you and God bless.