AGGRIEVED members of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State have threatened to defect from the party over the comment of the presidential aspirant of the party, Muhammadu Buhari, on the best candidate for the party’s governorship ticket in Kaduna State.

Buhari had during the public declaration of Malam Nasir El-Rufa’i for the state governorship seat allegedly said that El-Rufa’i was the man that could be supported in 2015.

In a related development, there was tension in the Kaduna State chapter of the APC at the weekend following accusations from some executive members that Malam Nasir El-Rufa’i was allegedly manipulating the state chairman of the party to his advantage.

The aggrieved members of the opposition party also accused the party’s state chairman, Barnabas Bala Bantex, of disregarding party instructions.

They, therefore, urged the national leadership of the party to intervene in the matter before it was too late.

While speaking to journalists in Kaduna, the state deputy chairman of the party, Danladi Wada, said that with the impunity in which rules and regulations of the party were being flouted by the state leadership of the party, members felt so disturbed and were calling for a concerted action so as to rescue the party.

Wada accused the Bantex-led executive of continued disregard to the directive of the national secretariat of the party on the congresses for the election of the party officers in some local government areas.

The National body, he said, had directed for proper inauguration of chairmen in Giwa, Zaria, Ikara and Sobon Gari local government areas but the directive was disregarded by the chairman.

Meanwhile, some concerned members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna State have alleged that El-Rufa’i was originally from Katsina Sate and that he should stop heating up the polity in Kaduna State.

Also, it had emerged that the El-Rufa’i governorship campaign team was in crisis over the appointment of a spokesperson for the organisation.

Cracks in the team became obvious when two supporters of the former minister and governorship aspirant both claimed authorship of a statement made available to the media on Friday in response to a statement by Governor Yero’s spokesperson, Ahmed Maiyaki.

While the original statement made public was signed by one Samuel Aruwan, the El-Rufa’i team later withdrew the statement and sent another one with similar content but signed by another person, Mohammed Soba.

A reliable source revealed that the statement was drafted by Samuel Aruwan, a practicing journalist in Kaduna, who has been penciled for appointment as official spokesman for El-Rufa’i governorship campaign.

“But some politicians within the El-Rufa’i team are not comfortable with Aruwan, basically because of religious sentiment. They are the ones that insisted on him remaining as a faceless expert behind the scene while Soba should act as the official spokesperson for the campaign,” our source revealed.

He said the misunderstanding over who signs official statements for the El-Rufa’i team had been laid to rest because “Aruwan as a journalist is working with us and we believe he is well placed to assist with vital information while Soba performs the function of official spokesman.”