By Israel Adamu, Jos
North Central All Progressive Congress (APC) Forum has commended President Bola Tinubu for heeding their call to convene the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party towards planning for the national convention.
Addressing newsmen on Wednesday in Jos the Plateau State capital the forum’s Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, said the President has canvassed for the meeting through a letter from his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to Umar Ganduje to be slated for September.
According to Zazzaga, the President, in the letter, is opting for either September 8 or September 19 for the NEC meeting, saying that their excitement is that the North Central APC has been calling the attention of the President to intervene in several issues brewing crises in the party, and to call for national convention.
Zazzaga who was also a member of the Presidential Campaign Council in the last election explained that the NEC meeting is a stepping stone towards the convention which they have been looking forward to using to ventilate some of their grievances in the party, especially from the North Central region which is a solid bedrock of the party.
In how words ” We want to commend President Bola Tinubu for calling the NEC meeting of the APC in this coming September. This has been our long term cry of the North Central APC so that many issues concerning the party can be addressed, and so that we can equally table our grievances from the North Central region and get it addressed before we forge ahead and intensify our plans ahead of the 2027 election.”
“So the letter calling for the meeting from the President through his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to plan out the convention before the end of the year is a welcome development. This shows the President has listened to our call.
“Our role in APC from the from the North Central perspective right from the 2015 election to the 2023 election was very critical towards the success of the party at the polls.
“Hence, we will not spare any effort to pursue our cause and do things that will generally uplift the North Central zone, while we will continue to deepen our loyalty to the APC in general and continue working for the success of the party in one way or the order.
“Beside the strong contribution of the North Central to the development and sustenance of the APC over the years, as well as the tremendous support we 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 is of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Kwara, Niger, Benue, Kogi and Nasarawa State is of the APC, and therefore the North Central region has made a strong statement on its achievement for the party and therefore deserves to be listened to and given its due respect and request.
“And our demand from the North Central is a well known fact. The 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 and it is our constitutional right, as well as the party arrangement.
“So, after the resignation of Abdullahi Adamu from Nasarawa State, someone from the North Central region should have been picked to replace him as the National Chairman, and not Abdullahi Ganduje from the North West state of Kano.
“That is why we have dragged Ganduje to the Federal High Court in Abuja, and the judgement is coming up on September 18 (a day before one of the dates, September 19, proposed by President Bola Tinubu for the convention). In any case, this NEC meeting should resolve so many lingering issues in the party,” he said.
Zazzaga said there are lots of intending prominent defectors from other political parties in the region, and they have been in close contact and communication with them, but many of them are reluctant to do so as they made it clear that they are not comfortable with the current party leadership led by Ganduje who is currently incurring legal liabilities for the party, even from his Kano State ward, as well as other charges against him.
Meanwhile, he lauded President Tinubu for the way he handled the recent national protest, saying that he did not make any inflammatory remarks, but rather outlined the steps taken by his administration to settle the numerous challenges in the country, even inherited ones.
He said the North Central APC also played a key role in making sure that there was no violent protest in the region as seen in some other places, adding that their press conference before the protest which they presented their stand on the protest, as well as their accompanying youths engagement had paid off.
