Northern groups ask courts to remove Ganduje as APC chairman

Two different groups from the North Central have filed suits seeking to nullify the position of Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The groups are the Concerned North Central APC Stakeholders and the North Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum.

The first group, under the aegis of the Concerned North Central APC Stakeholders, had, in a letter to the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party dated April 30, 2024, sought the restoration of the zoning arrangement of the party, which put the party’s chairmanship in the zone.

The letter was signed by Muhammed Saidu Etsu, Gbenga Lubem, AbdulGaniyu Lukman, Bagu Bung Jung, Isa Abubakar Imam, and Mohammed Kabiru Idris.

However, in an originating summons filed by Etsu, through their counsel, Joshua Oka Obono Obla Esq before an FCT high court on Friday, the group contended that Ganduje’s continued chairmanship of the party contravened the provisions of Article 7(vii) and (ix) of the APC Constitution and the consensus reached at the 2022 National Convention held in Abuja, that the national chairman of the APC from 2022 to 2026 must be someone from the North Central geopolitical zone of the country.

They are asking the court to make an order setting aside the appointment of Ganduje by the APC as the National Chairman of the APC on August 3, 2023 on the ground that the APC “failed, refused and or neglected to comply with the procedure laid down by Article 31.5 of the APC Constitution.”

Those joined as the defendants in the suit include Ganduje, the APC, the NEC of the APC and the NWC of the APC.

Similarly, the North Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum in a suit filed on Monday before a federal high court in Abuja by their counsel, Ayuba Abdul Esq, is challenging the breach of the party’s constitution by the nomination of Ganduje to replace ex-chairman Abdullahi Adamu in 2023.

The suit joined Ganduje, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendants.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suits.