Last Thursday, former governor of Kano state, Dr. Abdulahi Ganduje, emerged the sixth National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress. Adedayo Akinwale takes a look at the issues calling for the urgent attention of the National Working Committee.
The immediate past governor of Kano state, Dr. Abdulahi Gamduje last week emerged as sixth National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) within 10 years of the existence of the party.
The ruling party at the formation stage in 2013 had the former Governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande as its protem chairman, followed by former Governors of Edo state, Chief John Oyegun and Adams Oshiomhole.
Governor of Yobe state, Mai Mala Buni was drafted in as the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) following the ouster of Oshiomhole, who was later succeeded by Senator Abdulahi Adamu.
Setting the agenda for the 12th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja last week, APC’s Acting National Chairman, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said like any human organisation, the party had its own fair share of problems and challenges.
He said there are issues pertaining to the unity and cohesion of the party, issues concerning the need to strengthen the institutional and financial capacity of the party, even the issue of the soon to be conducted off season gubernatorial elections in a number of States, among others.
According to him, while it is essential that we address these challenges head-on and work together to steer the party and nation towards a brighter future, the current exigencies will not permit their consideration at this meeting.
Kyari pointed out that the NEC meeting was therefore convened to purposely address two issues, namely: the appointment of External Auditors of the party and and the filling of the existing vacancies in the offices of the National Chairman and National Secretary, saying these offices play a pivotal role in strategic direction for the party.
He added: “It is pertinent to note that as enshrined in the Constitution of our Party, under Article 13.3 (ii), the NEC has the powers to discharge all functions of the National Convention in between National Conventions.”
Kyari called on members of APC to remain steadfast as it strives to uphold the principles of democracy, inclusivity, and good governance.
His words: “Let us foster an environment that encourages healthy debates, respect for the rule of law, and protects the rights and freedoms of all Nigerians. We must be the standard-bearers of integrity and accountability, demonstrating to our citizens that we are here to serve their best interests.”
Consequently, at the meeting, the APC NEC ratified the nominations of Ganduje and former Senate Spokesperson, Senator Ajibola Bashir as Chairman and National Secretary respectively.
Their nominations followed the recent forced resignation of Adamu and former National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore.
The emergence of the duo of Ganduje and Bashir is however creating discontent and acrimony within the party, as both the Chairman and Secretary are Muslims.
A party official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said while the development could not be immediately reversed, it must be on record that the APC has now yielded itself to a particular religion.
The source said, “We know what we went through with the Tinubu/Shettima Muslim-Muslim ticket. As if that was not enough, we were on the verge of producing a Muslim Senate President until many of us protested. That said, we still have a Muslim Speaker.
“We did not force Adamu out only to be replaced by another Muslim. If you read former National Vice Chairman, (North-West), Salihu Lukman’s statements, one of his consistent demands were that Adamu should be replaced with a Christian from the North-Central.
“Now, you did not do that but went ahead to even distort the zoning formula by taking that office to the North-West. And to add salt to injury, the new national secretary is also a Muslim. These are the two main people, who run the party. There should be religious sensitivity”.
The NEC of the party has, however, appeased the North Central with the position of National Legal Adviser.
Following the resignation of Adamu and Omisore, the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) with the blessing of President Bola Tinubu anointed Ganduje for the position.
The decision which was ratified at the last NEC meeting saw the position of national chairman moving from North Central to North West.
Against this background, the NEC came up with a zoning arrangement for filling the six vacant positions of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
The vacancies in the NWC are occasioned by the death of a member, the resignation of three officers, and nomination of two members of the committee for ministerial appointment.
THISDAY checks revealed that the Deputy National Chairman (North) and National Women Leader are ministerial nominees, National Vice Chairman (North West), National Legal Adviser and Deputy National Publicity Secretary resigned from their positions, while the office of the National Welfare Secretary became vacant following the demise of the occupant early this year.
After wide consultations, the NEC decided that the position of National Chairman hitherto zoned to North Central be moved to North West while the Deputy National Chairman (North) and National Secretary are still being retained in the North East and South West respectively.
Also, the position of National Welfare Secretary and the National Women Leader are retained in the South East and South-South.
Investigations further revealed that the resignation of the former National Legal Adviser, AhmedEl-Marzuk, who hails from North West last Wednesday made the zoning arrangement of the office to the North Central a lot easier.
A party source said recent development in the party necessitated the new zoning arrangement in the party.
The source said: “You will recall that zoning of office was one of the issues on the agenda at our NEC meeting on Thursday. The emergence of the new National Chairman made us adjust the earlier zoning arrangement to cater for the interest of all the geopolitical zones.
“Following the ceding of the NEC powers to the NWC and with the new zoning arrangement, zonal leaders with the affected positions will meet and present nominations to the NWC for approval.
“The new chairman and the secretary and indeed the NWC should swing into action and ensure the needful is done on time to fill the vacant positions in the 25-man administrative organ.”
Speaking after his emergence, Ganduje assured that his main focus would be to promote party unity, defending and increasing the number of executive and legislative seats the party currently holds.
His words: “Under my watch, internal democracy will be strictly adhered to with a deliberate policy to engage in wider consultations and making party functional throughout the year.
“More reforms will be carried out in the party in alignment with the current political landscape. We all agreed that we must unite our members to achieve support for our government to respond adequately, urgently and assertively to the challenges that Nigerians confront on a daily basis.”
Ganduje added that the challenges included unemployment, poverty, insecurity, social cohesion and the rising cost of living.
He appealed to Nigerians to bear with the President at this trying moment, considering that the country’s economy had been in shambles for years.
Ganduje stressed that he believed that the policies and programmes to be unveiled by Mr. President when his administration fully takes shape, would surely turn things around for the better.
He added: “Our party must remain rooted among the people, must demonstrate a willingness to serve and make sacrifices, and must be willing to acknowledge and address our weaknesses.
“It’s a huge privilege and an honour and a great responsibility to take on this job and I will do it with everything I have to the best of my ability for my party and my country. We will ensure a level playing field for all party members that want to contest elections under the party’s platform. Our primary elections would be free, transparent and fair.”
Ganduje also called on members of the party and all the people of Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa states to close ranks and ensure that the APC wins in the November, 2023 governorship polls.
With the emergence of the former Governor of Kano state as APC National Chairman, many believe President Tinubu was already asserting his authority in the party ahead of the 2027 poll. This informed why he anointed Ganduje, one of his most trusted allies to man the affairs of the party.
