Barely 24 hours after the resignation of Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stakeholders from the North-Central region have renewed their demand for the chairmanship position to be zoned to their region.
The demand, made under the umbrella of the North-Central APC Forum, was articulated in a statement issued on Saturday by the Forum’s Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, who is also a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in the 2023 general elections.
Zazzaga urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other key stakeholders of the party to ensure that Ganduje’s successor emerges from the North-Central geopolitical zone, in the interest of fairness, justice, and party cohesion.
“We are not asking for the position of National Chairman just as a matter of entitlement. We are confident that the North-Central has capable and experienced leaders who can lead the APC to greater heights,” Zazzaga stated.
He noted that the region had been sidelined in 2023 when Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State, resigned under controversial circumstances, and the party chose Ganduje from the North-West instead of allowing the North-Central to complete the tenure.
The Forum said it had earlier pursued legal action to press for the region’s right to the chairmanship but suspended the agitation after Ganduje’s appointment was ratified by the National Executive Committee (NEC), in the broader interest of party unity.
“Now that Ganduje has voluntarily stepped aside, the APC has an opportunity to correct the previous imbalance. It is only proper for the party to return the chairmanship to the North-Central,” the statement emphasized.
The group also called on President Tinubu to direct the acting National Chairman, Ali Bukar Dalori, to urgently convene a meeting of the NEC to pave the way for the emergence of a substantive chairman from the North-Central zone.
According to Zazzaga, “Our position has always been consistent. The current situation offers the party a chance to uphold its zoning arrangement and reward loyalty and contribution from all regions, especially the North-Central.”
The agitation from the North-Central is expected to shape upcoming deliberations within the APC, as the party works to fill the leadership vacuum created by Ganduje’s departure.
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