AHEAD APC NEC MEETING: NORTH WEST, NORTH CENTRAL FIGHT FOR PARTY CHAIRMANSHIP

AHEAD APC NEC MEETING: NORTH WEST, NORTH CENTRAL FIGHT FOR PARTY CHAIRMANSHIP

Ahead of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), there are indications that the party is yet to agree on where to pick its national chairman from.

Credible sources told the Weekend Trust that while the party is waiting to hear from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his preference, stakeholders have narrowed the jostling to the North Central and North West geopolitical zones for some obvious reasons.

Following the resignation of former Kano State governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, as national chairman of the party, some party faithful are pushing for the retention of the position in the North West, even in interim capacity until the national convention when a substantive chairman will be elected.

The clamour, according to sources within the party, is in order not to exhume the controversy over zoning within the party, curtail fresh issues thrown up by the exit of Ganduje and to manage the ensuing internal agitations.

Our correspondents learnt that part of the measures being thrown up by those behind the clamour is to allow the North West retain the position to give the impression of continuity of the Ganduje chairmanship.

One of their reasons, it was learnt, is the voter strength of the region which no presidential candidate can ignore.

One of the sources also said the move is meant to avoid hurting APC members from the North West who may feel sidelined if the position is taken away from them, and at the same time, not to displease party members from the North Central zone who believe they are entitled to the seat per the party’s zoning arrangement.

Before the exit of Ganduje, it appeared most party leaders and members had accepted the arrangement that the North West retains the seat since the exit of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, but the vacancy created by the resignation of Ganduje has ignited fresh agitations.

But another source said the final decision will come from President Tinubu, who will ultimately endorse someone that he feels will be loyal to him ahead of the 2027 general election.

Recall that Ganduje threw in the towel on June 27, 2025, on grounds of ill-health, according to a letter he transmitted to the APC National Secretary, Ajibola Bashiru.

In the letter, the former chairman cited the need for him to have ample time to take care of his health.

But sources within the party had hinted that political manoeuvering and scheming within the APC ahead of the 2027 elections prompted his exit.

The deputy national chairman (North), Ali Bukar Dalori, has since replaced Ganduje, in an acting capacity.

While some party chieftains believe it would not be wrong to allow Dalori on the saddle, others say the arrangement would distance both the North Central and North West from party serious party decisions.

Two weeks after Ganduje’s exit, names of APC bigwigs from the North Central and North West have sprung up for the chairmanship.

So far, the majority of APC bigwigs eyeing the chairmanship slot are from the North Central while only one major contender is reportedly from the North West where Ganduje hails from.

According to sources, those eyeing the seat from the North Central are former governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura; former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello; incumbent Senator for Niger East, Sani Musa; former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, Senator Solomon Ewuga from Nasarawa State and Senator Salihu Mustapha from Kwara State.

Efforts to speak to them were not successful.

For instance, several calls and text messages to Senator Musa, Senator Mustapha, Ewuga and Dariye were not returned or did not go through at all.

However, sources close to most of them said each of potential candidates is “waiting for the green light from Mr President.”

A source said, “Honestly, my principal would have granted you the interview you want, but then, he is being circumspect not to overreach the goodwill he has in the eyes of the president and party leaders.

“And I believe it is the same situation with other candidates. They want those who hold the levers of power to ask them to come forth but certainly, the next party chairman will come from the North Central or North West,” he said.

Meanwhile, the name of Senator Abu Ibrahim from Katsina State has propped up and appears to be the only person from the North West region.

Credible sources told Weekend Trust that Senator Abu Ibrahim, who had won election to the Senate four times before he voluntarily step aside, is a close ally of President Tinubu and is being tipped to replace Ganduje.

But Senator Ibrahim, in an interview with our correspondents, said no one had contacted him on the matter.

He said, “That (speculation of being chairman) surprised me too. First, I’ve not discussed it with the president. Nobody has reached out to me or sought my view.

“Personally, I believe I’ve done my part in politics. I would prefer to retire and allow younger leaders to emerge. That’s my principle.”

He added that the speculation could be an interim arrangement. “People think I can help manage the situation. Still, I haven’t shown any interest in the role.”

It was gathered that party leaders from the region were not pleased with the abrupt exit of Ganduje as national chairman and were agitating to retain the position.

A week ago, leaders of the APC in Kano State failed to welcome Vice President Kashim Shettima, who was in Kano to condole with the family of the late business mogul and elder statesman, Aminu Dantata, who died recently.

While officials of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) led government in the state were on ground to welcome the Vice President, officials and leaders of the APC were absent at the event, thus, sparking debate in the polity.

Political pundits said the action was a deliberate move to express their anger over the abrupt exit of Ganduje, a former governor of the state who still commands respect and political influence to a large extent in the state.

But state secretary of the APC, Ibrahim Zakari Sarina, had dismissed the claim of boycott, saying the absence of party leaders during Shettima’s visit was “purely due to miscommunication.”

Observers said the move to pick Senator Ibrahim as Ganduje’s replacement is meant to appease APC stakeholders in the region considering its strategic nature in the political scheme, especially as it has seven states and the majority of votes when it comes to elections.

Weekend Trust reports that Senator Abu Ibrahim, a prominent figure in Katsina politics played a pivotal role in the pro-democracy movements of the 1990s alongside Tinubu.

Their shared history of sacrifice and resilience during the military era stood as a symbol of steadfast commitment to democratic ideals. During his visit to Katsina State recently, Tinubu paid glowing tribute to Senator Ibrahim whom he described as a trusted political ally and long-time associate.

The president said: “My old struggle mate and detention mate, Senator Abu Ibrahim, thank you for being a very good friend and for your solid loyalty. Thank you very much.”

Our correspondent gathered that the body language of President Tinubu concerning the potential choice of Senator Ibrahim led to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, who is from the North Central, backing out of the race.

Akume, a former governor of Benue State, in a statement on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yomi Odunuga, said he is not jostling with anyone for the post of either the APC national chairman or any other one in the party.

The SGF explained that his main focus was to ensure that he does not in any way betray the trust that President Tinubu has reposed in him in ensuring that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the ruling party and the government is achieved.

“I am not in a hurry to abdicate my responsibility and the task that the president of the Federal Republic has placed before me. I am a firm believer in the principle that whatever God plans for you will surely come to pass. So I can’t be in a race that I am not interested in.

“Everything that I have been in life has been given to me by the Almighty God through the instrumentality of people, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Akume said.

But speaking on the matter, a chieftain of the APC, Barrister Abdullahi Jalo, told Weekend Trust that the power to elect a substantive national chairman resides with the national convention, warning that this function shouldn’t be interfered with.

Jalo said since the deputy national chairman (North), Dalori, has taken over in an acting capacity, his team should be allowed to conduct a national convention where a substantive national chairman would emerge.

It is expected that at the July 24 NEC meeting of the APC, key decisions concerning the soul of the party, including a date for its elective national convention would be decided.

N/Central threatens legal action

Barely two weeks after Ganduje’s exit from the party’s apex office, the North Central stakeholders renewed their agitations to fill the vacancy.

Recall that former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who was forced to resign as APC national chairman in 2023, was yet to complete his tenure of four years before his abrupt exit.

The clamour by stakeholders from the region to fill the vacancy and complete the tenure of the zone didn’t yield any fruitful result as President Tinubu endorsed Ganduje from the North West region to fill the position who became the 6th national chairman of the APC.

Before Ganduje, there were five other chairmen: Chief Bisi Akande (2013 – 2014); Chief John Oyegun (2014 – 2018); Comrade Adams Oshiomhole (2018 – 2020); Mai Mala Buni (2020-22) and Abdullahi Adamu (2022 – 2023).

Sources within the APC national secretariat hinted to our correspondent yesterday that the party wants to pick an experienced politician with a track record of integrity, but who would do President Tinubu’s biding, to assume office as the 7th chairman ahead of the 2027 general elections.

It was gathered that the development is sequel to the emergence of former Senate President David Mark, as interim national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a platform being repositioned with the aim to unseat President Tinubu in 2027.

A member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in the 2023 poll, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, told our correspondent in a telephone interview that the stakeholders in the North Central would head to court if they are not given the opportunity to retain the chairmanship.

Zazzaga, who is also the chairman of the North Central APC Forum said: “It is our turn; it is the turn of the North Central. So, if they decide not to give us, we will have no other alternative than to proceed to court. We will go back to court.”

Any zone can produce Ganduje’s successor – Barr. Maidugu

Meanwhile, in an interview on the controversy of which zone – between the Northwest and the North Central – produces the next national chairman, a member of the APC Constitution Review Committee (2022), Barrister Bashir Maidugu, said the chairmanship contest is open to all zones.

Barrister Maidugu explained that the party’s constitution only calls for zoning balance without prescribing specific methods.

“It can go to the North West, North Central or any other zone. The party’s leadership will decide based on strategy and electoral balance,” he added.

However, sources within the APC hinted that the party has yet to take a final decision to make Senator Ibrahim party chairman, following protest in some quarters that a Christian should emerge the next chairman.

A source at the APC national secretariat told our correspondent that the main issue is about the religion of who emerges.

He said there were concerns that since President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima, are both Muslims and the immediate past chairman (Ganduje) was equally a Muslim, a Christian should be picked this time to fill the position of chairman.

“For fairness and justice, whoever Mr President is anointing should be a Christian this time. Stakeholders are considering this too,” he said.

A political analyst, Jackson Lekan Ojo, also told Weekend Trust in a telephone chat that the North Central.

Going down memory lane, Ojo said, “When the national secretary, Omisore and Abdullahi Adamu, were forced to resign, they resigned and the position of national secretary was not just zoned to the South West, it was zoned to Osun, Omisore’s home state, while the position of national chairman was zoned to the Northwest instead of North Central.

“Now, it is only natural for the North Central to retain its position. And if you are talking of the North Central, Abdullahi Adamu has done it. The position of SGF is occupied by someone from Benue State.

“So there is nothing bad if the position of national chairman is zoned to Plateau State in the North Central. Plateau State has not really produced any major office holder at the federal level or in the APC leadership.

“Again, it will be fair if the next national chairman is a Christian. The former chairman was a Muslim, President Tinubu is a Muslim, Vice President Kashim Shettima is a Muslim, Speaker of the House of Representatives is a Muslim, Deputy Senate President is a Muslim.

“So when you look at all these, there is the need to consider a Christian from the North Central for the party’s chairmanship.”

ad
The APC, however, said it has no preferred aspirant for the position. The party’s National Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, told Weekend Trust in a telephone chat that “the party has no anointed or preferred candidate for now.”

He added that all aspirants would be given a level-playing field when the time comes.

The contenders

Al-Makura

He is a former governor of Nasarawa State and member of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), one of the legacy parties that merged to form the APC in 2013. Al-Makura was one of those who contested the party’s chairmanship during the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. However, the president picked Adamu as his preferred candidate, compelling others including Al-Makura to step down. He was the lone CPC governor in 2011. He is contesting that the CPC bloc in the APC has never taken a shot at the chairmanship of the party since its inception in 2013.

In an interview last week, Al-Makura said he was a committed party member and that he was ready to do whatever the president wants.

When asked if he would accept the position of APC national chairman if Tinubu calls him to take the job, Al-Makura said, “If Mr President, as the leader of this country, tells me that ‘Al-Makura, I want you to come to my office and dust my table every Monday, that is what pleases me, that is what I feel will make the party and this country progress. I can assure you that I will make it a date that every Monday, at that appointed time, I will come, dust the table, and go. I will be satisfied that I have done what the president wants. That is the level of my commitment and loyalty to a leader.”

The North Central APC Forum recently endorsed Al-Makura as its preferred candidate for the job.

Yahaya Bello

He is former governor of Kogi State. He ran the state from 2016 to 2024. When Ganduje assumed office as APC national chairman, Yahaya Bello was also said to be interested in the position.

His posters also appeared in many strategic locations at the time for the party’s national chairmanship. But at the heat of the controversies, Bello dismissed his desire to contest the chairmanship.

After Ganduje’s resignation, the Hope North Central Development Initiative (HNCDI), a pressure group endorsed Bello for the position. Sources close to Bello confirmed to our correspondent yesterday that the former governor is warming up for the slot. Bello’s posters are already in strategic places.

Musa

He is the current senator representing Niger East at the National Assembly. He is also the chairman, Senate committee on Finance.

He contested the party’s chairmanship prior to the expiration of the timeline of the Governor Mai Mala Buni led Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Committee in 2023 but he couldn’t make it, as President Buhari had picked Adamu as his preferred candidate for the job and requested other contenders to step down. Sani Musa’s posters are already in strategic locations.

Dariye

Joshua Dariye is former governor of Plateau State. He also represented Plateau Central at the National Assembly.

Recently, the North Central APC Democratic Alliance threw its weight behind Dariye, describing him as the ideal candidate to unify and reposition the party ahead of the 2027 general elections. There are reports that Dariye will also throw his hat into the ring.

Ewuga

Senator Solomon Ewuga is former Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory (FCT). He also represented Nasarawa North in the 7th National Assembly.

Ewuga, a former deputy governor of Nasarawa State, had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC alongside members of other political parties in 2024, and was received by Ganduje into the party.

Analyst weighs in

Weighing in on the matter, a professor of political sociology at the University of Abuja, Abubakar Kari, said the trend of kicking out party chairmen and installing new ones has continued over the years because of lack of internal democracy in political parties.

Kari, in a telephone interview with Weekend Trust said parties must be democratised with members given the opportunity to make choices, otherwise, the trend would continue.

The university don said: “Most of the party chairmen were actually not democratically elected. They came in through either of the two ways – in some controversial so-called conventions where delegates who themselves were not democratically chosen assembled in Abuja or any other venue for convention and after all, an intervention or interference by their godfather, a list will now be ready for them to endorse.

“The list itself is a controversially prepared document through some dubious organised consensus arrangements.

“The other one, like the one that produced Ganduje, they will simply call for a meeting of NEC and then somebody will be pronounced party chairman. So that is why it is so easy for the chairmen to be dispensed with, because they did not emerge through democratic processes.

“And this is not only applicable to PDP and APC; it cuts across all parties. The parties have been appropriated by godfathers and these godfathers are either individuals or organs.”