The sudden resignation of the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, yesterday, has been trailed with a renewed clamour by the North Central Zone for the top seat, which was originally zoned to it.
Ganduje, a former governor of Kano State, who had been in the saddle as APC national chairman since August 2023, resigned his position yesterday.
Until late last night, no official reason was advanced for the action of the APC helmsman, which is sudden, as he was seen in his official capacity during the commissioning of the Kugbo Bus Terminals in Abuja on Thursday evening.
The APC later announced the resignation of Ganduje as its national chairman.
The party’s national publicity secretary, Felix Morka who announced this last night, said Ganduje’s resignation, which took immediate effect, was to enable him attend to urgent important personal matters.
According to Morka, President Bola Tinubu has directed the deputy national chairman (North), Hon. Ali Dalori, to assume the position of acting national chairman, pending the meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party to be summoned immediately to fill the vacancy created by the resignation. Earlier, one of Ganduje’s aides, who pleaded anonymity, had said no formal resignation letter has been seen, a member of staff at the APC Secretariat, who asked not to be named, said the personal belongings of the former national chairman were removed from his office into a black Jeep, which later drove out.
After his tenure as Kano State governor, Ganduje emerged as the APC national chairman in August 2023, following the resignation of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State.
APC stakeholders from the North Central opposed Ganduje’s chairmanship on the ground that he was usurping their slot as zoned by the party in 2022.
However, with Ganduje’s resignation, Hon. Ali Dalori, deputy national chairman (North) is expected to assume office.
Dalori hails from Borno State in the North East geopolitical zone.
Intrigues Surrounding The Resignation
Inside sources in APC have attributed Ganduje’s exit to the alleged desire of President Bola Tinubu to have a smooth ride to his second term in 2027.
Impeccable sources in the party said Ganduje had to go so that the APC and Tinubu could galvanise support across the North ahead of the 2027 general election.
One of the sources told LEADERSHIP Weekend, under the condition of anonymity, that there were some people, such as a former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who would have joined the APC, but they could not come in with Ganduje as national chairman.
“The man has resigned. Are you surprised? You know, since last month, he has been following Tinubu here and there, but the thing did not work. There are some people like Kwankwaso who want to join the party but if Ganduje is the chairman they won’t join. Tinubu wants to win a second term and needs such people,” a source said.
Another source, who also spoke in confidence, said Ganduje’s resignation was to pave the way for someone from the North Central to complete the tenure of the former national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, to keep the geopolitical zone intact for Tinubu in 2027.
According to the ranking APC member, that was a major demand of the North Central party bigwigs when they met Tinubu behind closed doors when he was in Nasarawa for the inauguration of some projects executed by Governor Abdullahi Sule on Wednesday.
“The resignation of Ganduje is to principally appease the North Central, from where the position of national chairman of our great party was taken. You know APC and Tinubu enjoy goodwill from the zone but the demand for the return of the national chairmanship position to the region has been on the front burner.
“When the President was in Nasarawa on Wednesday for the commissioning of projects, the issue came up behind closed doors and I think either Ganduje saw the handwriting on the wall so clearly and acted in good faith, or he was asked back out.”
The source added that, unlike Adams Oshiomhole who was removed without an immediate compensation, Ganduje had been appointed chairman of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
“Unlike the case with Oshiomhole, Ganduje at least was appointed chairman of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria. So, he has a soft landing. In fact, all the National Working Committee (NWC) members, including state party chairmen had been made board chairmen of federal agencies, so even if all of them are asked to resign they have what to hold onto.”
Another party source, who confirmed Ganduje’s resignation was to appease the North Central, however, disclosed that the move is to accommodate the seemingly estranged Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) bloc.
The source said the national chairmanship is not just likely to return to the North Central Zone but will accommodate the CPC bloc of the party and also target fdmiddle belt votes.
He however played down the possibility of a VP slot going to the North West, adding that the zone already has the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Deputy Senate President and top ministerial slots.
“These positions are not small fries. So the resignation of Ganduje has nothing to do with the VP slot as speculated in some quarters. So I don’t see the VP position going that way,” he said.
A former national chairmanship aspirant in 2022, Emmanuel Estu, described Ganduje’s resignation as a welcome development.
He told LEADERSHIP Weekend that he was confident the position will rightfully return to the North Central where it was originally zoned to in 2022.
“The recent resignation of Abdullahi Ganduje as APC national chairman is indeed a welcome development to our dear party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). First and foremost, we want to sincerely appreciate Mr. President, H.E. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for his timely intervention, which has brought about a new chapter in our party’s history.
“Furthermore, we are calling on all party stakeholders, especially the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, North Central region, to rally around so that the North Central region takes its rightful position.
“Lastly, we believe this will also help the party in the forthcoming elections,” he said.
LEADERSHIP Weekend also learnt that, in the interim, when the resignation is made official, the APC deputy national chairman (North) would take over the affairs of the party pending either the appointment or election of the next national chairman.
“One cannot tell whether the national chairman has submitted his resignation letter to the deputy national chairman (North), which is the right thing to do because we are also reading it in the media. However, if it turns out through, the deputy national chairman north will take charge, pending further action,” a senior staff at the APC secretariat told LEADERSHIP Weekend in confidence.
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