Following last Tuesdays vote of confidence passed on the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, the North Central APC Forum has called on the state chairmen of the APC from the North Central region to dissociate themselves from the endorsement.
The call was made on Thursday in Jos, the Plateau State capital, by the forum’s Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, when he spoke to newsmen in reaction to Ganduje’s endorsement in Abuja.
Zazzaga, who was also a member of the Presidential Campaign Council in the last election, explained that the vote of confidence which the state chairmen of the party passed on Ganduje is not in the interest of the North Central region.
He also said the endorsement of Ganduje was not in the party’s interest and could weaken the strong force of APC in the region which greatly contributed to the success of the party, even at the 2023 polls.
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“North Central APC Forum along with various leaders and chieftains of the APC from the region have been intensifying push for the zoning of the National Chairmanship position of the party to the region, because that position is well deserved by the region owing to its contribution to the progress of the party and its victory in 2023 elections.
“Apart from the strong contribution of the North Central to the development and sustenance of the APC over the years, as well as the great support it gave to the emergence of President Bola Tinubu as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the region has also delivered five governors for the APC out of the six states in the North Central region.
“Apart from Plateau State which our closest opponent, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) got, Kwara, Niger, Benue, Kogi and Nassarawa State are of the APC, and therefore the North Central region has made a strong statement on its achievement for the party and therefore deserves the National Chairmanship position of the party.
“Even the Plateau State which is currently PDP, we have been working tirelessly to return it back to APC, and we have been intensifying our plans and strategy lately.
“It is therefore unreasonable that while we are pushing for the National Chairmanship position of the party to be zoned to the North Central in view of our efforts for the progress of the APC and its victories at elections, the party state chairmen from our region would be part of any arrangement or decision to pass a vote of confidence in the embattled National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje.
“We are not meddling in the issue of Ganduje, as a result of his suspension from the party by his ward in Kano and the court injunctions which followed thereafter. And we are also not against Ganduje as a person. Our own concern is the North Central region. All we are after is the rights and privileges of the North Central region, and the National Chairmanship position remains one of our prominent focuses for our efforts.
“After the 2023 election, we were hoping to get the National Chairmanship position, but it was given to Ganduje who is from the North West. And since then, we have never relented in pushing for that position.
“So, we are earnestly calling on all the state party chairmen from the region to immediately distance themselves from that vote of confidence passed in Ganduje. Otherwise, we will commence mass protest against them in all the North Central states,” he said.
Zazzaga called on all the APC stakeholders, as well as the governors from the North Central to support their struggles of getting the National Chairmanship position.
Also, he urged the party stakeholders to prevail on the state chairmen of the party from the region to distance themselves from Ganduje’s endorsement or any move that will truncate their struggles for the region.
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