Race to replace Ganduje begins, as APC North-Central Forum demands National Chairman position

The North-Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has called on President Bola Tinubu and the leadership of the party to allow the North-Central region to produce the next National Chairman of the party following the sudden resignation of erstwhile Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Gandunje.

The Forum which made the demand in a statement on Saturday issued in Abuja by its Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, said letting the region produce Ganduje’s successor will amount to a spirit of “fairness, justice and equity”.

Zazzaga who was a member of the APC Campaign Council for the 2023 general election, noted that it was time for the APC to do the right thing by retuning the position of National Chairman to the North-Central region, while also appealing to Tinubu to mandate the Acting National Chairman, Ali Bukar Dalori, to immediately convene a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) towards the emergence of a substantive National Chairman from the North-Central.

The Forum’s statement reads:
“It is on record that the North-Central APC Forum had for long advocated that the party honours the principles of the subsisting zoning arrangement which ceded the position of National Chairman to the North-Central.

“We agitated that the region be allowed to complete the tenure of former National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, even going to court to argue our case.

“But after the ratification of the appointment of Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje as National Chairman by the National Executive Committee (NEC) in the overall interest of the party, we decided to suspend the agitation.

“Our decision to suspend the agitation at that time was also informed by the fact that we observed that the APC was moving in the right direction, waxing stronger by the day under Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje’s leadership as can be demonstrated by the high profile defections to the party, including governors and members of the National Assembly.

“During Alhaji Abdullahi’s time as National Chairman, several governors including those of Delta and Akwa Ibom states, defected to the APC. Also during the period, several members of the Senate and House of Representatives joined the party. It is equally on record that many high profile opposition politicians defected to the APC during Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje’s leadership.

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“Also, the APC, under Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, won states that were held by the opposition, particularly Edo State, where APC defeated the incumbent PDP government.

“Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje also united the party, ensuring stability in the APC at a time when the major opposition parties were battling series of internal crises. These and more were the reasons we decided to suspend the agitation.

“Now that Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje has decided to step aside, we feel it is only fair and just for the party to, finally, do the right thing and allow the North-Central to produce the National Chairman, for the sake of fairness, justice and equity.

“We are, therefore, appealing to President Bola Tinubu, who we have found to be a listening President, and stakeholders of the party to allow the North-Central to produce the next Chairman of the APC.

“We also appeal to the President to direct the Acting National Chairman to immediately convene a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting for the purpose of electing a substantive National Chairman, who will come from the North-Central.

“The resignation of Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, who proved himself to be a capable National Chairman, though not what we wished for, has presented the party with a golden opportunity to right the wrongs and correct the injustice done to the North-Central.

“We are not asking for the position of National Chairman just as a matter of right – we know that the North-Central has capable personalities that can take the APC to victory in 2023.

“Allowing the North-Central to produce the National Chairman will not only ensure that the right thing is done, it will ensure ensure the continues on the path of progress and strength. We urge the party stakeholders not to delay in ensuring that the right thing is done,” the statement added.

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