The North Central All Progressive Congress (APC) Forum has stated that the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje, should not be allowed to stay longer in office, warning that doing so will take the APC backwards and tear the party apart.
Speaking with newsmen in Jos, Plateau State, the forum’s chairman, Alhaji Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, also warned the North West APC against passing a vote of confidence on the embattled APC National Chairman.
He pointed out that several votes of no confidence have already been passed on Ganduje right from his Kano ward, as well as other protests and litigations, among other agitations against him, adding that last Sunday’s meeting of APC North West stakeholders held in Kaduna was contrary to the positions of other geopolitical zones in the country.
Zazzaga, who was also a member of the Presidential Campaign Council in the last election, said Ganduje already has a lot of issues surrounding him, and the best thing for him is to quit so that he doesn’t cause any harm to the party or any legal liability for the party.
The Chairman explained that they have been working splendidly well with the North West APC, and so they should not allow the relationship to go sour, especially because of Ganduje’s issue.
Moreover, he stressed that the position Ganduje is occupying as the National Chairman of the APC is for the North Central region, according to party arrangements, and that it is someone from Nassarawa State or the region that is supposed to replace the former National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, who is also from Nassarawa/North Central, but not Ganduje, who is from the North West.
According to him, people from the North Central region have been engaged in several strategic activities to reclaim the seat and will not stop the struggle until they achieve their aim.
“So we are cautioning the North West APC against any move to back Ganduje because he is from the North West. Apart from the crisis rocking Ganduje and its ability to tear the party apart, the seat he is occupying is supposed to be for the North Central, and we are calling on our North West counterparts to support us as we push to reclaim it.
“Come to think of it, the North West already has good positions like the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Deputy Senate President, among others, and the APC National Chairmanship position that, by virtue of party arrangement, should be for the North Central, which is being occupied by Ganduje from the North West.
“In the spirit of fairness and equity, the National Chairmanship position should be occupied by someone from the North Central region, because we too are part of the ruling party and we played a key role in the emergence of President Bola Tinubu at last year’s election, as well as other good performances of the party in different elective positions.
“Notable among the remarkable performances of the North Central region is the winning of five states for the APC out of the six states in the North Central region, that is, Benue, Kogi, Niger, Nasarawa, and Kwara. So we deserve the leadership position of the party, and we will stand up to any region that wants to deny us the position.
“We cannot afford to fold our hands and let the position or other benefit that is for the North Central region to be transferred to another region be highjacked or denied to us since our region is also a critical stakeholder in the APC,” he said.
Zazzaga called on President Tinubu to intervene and revert the privileges of the North Central back to the region so that the region will not feel cheated in the scheme of things in the party and get discouraged as a result.
He also called on the people of North Central, irrespective of political, professional, ethno-religious, and other afflictions, to join hands with the forum to push for the ouster of Ganduje so that a rightful person from the region can occupy the seat.
Furthermore, he revealed that the hearing of the suit filed against Ganduje by the North Central APC Forum is coming up on May 30th, so all the good people of the region and stakeholders should support the forum in any way they can, especially in prayers, so that victory can be achieved.
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