The Zamfara chapter of the All Progressives Congress says it has discovered a fake party membership card in circulation, describing the action as a mischievous attempt to spoil the party’s name.
The party’s spokesman in Zamfara, Yusuf Idris, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
Mr Idris stated that the party came across a forged APC membership card doctored to contain an edited picture of the notorious bandits’ kingpin, Bello Turji, making him appear to be a registered party member.
“This was carried out by mischievous elements who are not happy with the smooth, successful and coordinated manner in which the ongoing e-registration of members is going on in the state.
“Even to the man on the street, the forgery is detectable right from the card in which there’s the emboldened ’26’ on the date referred to the 26th day of January. Similarly, the photograph of the hardened criminal used on the card is his picture, popularly known by both security agencies and Nigerians in general,” Mr Idris said.
Mr Idris added,”No person can be duly registered without a NIN number, which Turji hasn’t, and therefore making nonsense of the efforts of the mischief-makers for failing to realise that APC programmes are mostly flawless.
“The forgers forgot that before any person is enrolled by NIMC, he must fill a form that will contain his full information before he is captured. How then could NIMC capture him with a military uniform and gun on his shoulders, or are they blind or had forgotten that such features are not acceptable?”
The APC politician added, “Also, from our records of today’s registration from Kware ward, we did not have the ID number with the initial ID code ’26’, which is for Niger, but forged for a Zamfara membership card, talk less of the name.
“Preliminary investigation has already linked the mischievous card to one of Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi’s boys, Babangida Aliyu Shinkafi (Waziri), who was recently suspended from participating in the ongoing e-registration programme due to his dubious attitude. The forgery is linked to him because it first appeared on his Facebook page.
“Bottom line is, the APC e-registration coordination in Zamfara and indeed the state’s chapter of the party wish to completely debunk and distance themselves from the fake membership card with registration number: ID: APC 261113000102.”
According to him, the code that starts with 26 is for Niger, not Zamfara, which starts with 36.
“This clearly shows their ignorance on the registration,” Mr Idris said, “We therefore call on the well-meaning citizens to disregard the card while an investigation into the fabricators is being conducted.
We have reported the forgery case to the security agencies, and we are sure the perpetrator will be arrested and prosecuted soon.”
(NAN)