N/Central must retain APC chairmanship, vice chair tells govs

National Vice Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for North West, Salihu Mohammed Lukman has told governors who are members of the party and other critical stakeholders that replacing the immediate past national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu with a former governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje would be suicidal for the party.

He argued that such a choice will completely distort the zoning arrangement that informed the present configuration of the leadership of the National Assembly.

“With the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Deputy Senate President coming from North West and North Central shut out of consideration, to propose the party’s national chairman should move to North West from North Central will be unjust and almost political suicide,” Lukman said.

 There are reports that APC stakeholders have tipped Ganduje for the office of national chairman following Adamu’s resignation last Sunday.

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The emergency meeting of APC governors on Wednesday night had deliberated on Adamu’s resignation as well as Omisore, who resigned as national secretary.

Addressing newsmen at the end of the governors meeting, Uzodinma said the governors welcomed and supported the resignation of Adamu and Omisore.

He said, “Their resignation has been accepted by the leadership of the party. There is an acting chairman now and an acting secretary.”

But when asked to establish whether Ganduje was to replace Adamu as next chairman at the convention, he declined comment. He however said the convention would be held soon.

But in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, Lukman said anointing Ganduje for the seat ahead of the party’s convention is the height of insensitivity, insisting that the North Central must be allowed to retain the position.

The vice chairman who was one of the strong voices that led to Adamu’s resignation said, “Regrettably, however, many of the speculations do not share the commitment to either restore constitutional order in the party or return the party to its founding vision of returning to the path of progressive politics. In fact, if anything, some of the speculations, if true, will reduce to nonsense the decision to have a change of leadership, which means that no lessons have been learnt from all the circumstances of the last few years since the emergence of APC as a political party.

“Already, part of the speculations emerging from the governor’s bloc is that Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje is being considered to succeed Senator Abdullahi Adamu. If this is true, it only suggests insensitivity and taking members of the party for granted. This is without prejudice to the person of Dr. Ganduje.

“We must caution our governors that since the emergence of APC, governors have served almost as the conscience of the party. Any consideration for such an insensitive and unjust consideration of Dr Ganduje to become the national chairman of APC must be discarded.”