April 19, 2024

The North Central APC Forum has urged President Bola Tinubu to consider the return of the position of the national chairman of the party to the zone.

The chairman of the forum, Sale Zazzaga, made the appeal while addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday. 

The forum maintained that if the current national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje invariably lost his seat, the position should automatically revert to the north central.

He said the north-west, the region of the embattled national chairman, occupies several positions at the detriment of the North-central.

He urged the party to consider the North-central zone in light of the political happenings in the party.

Zazzaga, who spoke on behalf of the group, said the North-central has suffered neglect from the ruling party despite its performance at the last general election

He wondered why the former national secretary of the party, Senator Iyiola Omisore, was replaced by Senator Ajibola Basiru, who is from his state and the party took the position of of the national chairman, vacated by Senator Abdullahi Adamu from the North Central, to the North West, where Ganduje hails from.

He lamented that the North Central, which produced five APC governors could not be rewarded with the national chairman.

Ganduje, from Kano in the north-west, assumed office as APC national chair after Abdullahi Adamu, from Nasarawa in the north-central, resigned from the position.

On April 15, APC executives in Dawakin ward in Tofa LGA of Kano, suspended Ganduje over alleged corruption.

Zazzaga said there was a need for fairness in the ruling party.

He said: “You will all recall that in the past weeks, our great party, the APC, has been going through some challenges.

“From calls by concerned minds within the party like the immediate past Zonal Vice chairman north-west, Mallam Salihu Lukman, who continues to speak up against certain palpable anomalies regarding unbalanced distribution of key governmental offices and key leadership positions within the party, to the recently shocking suspension of the National Chairman, H.E. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and several other sundry issues.

“It has become pertinently pressing for us as stakeholders of the north-central to address these issues as they affect the zone.

“First, we the stakeholders of the north-central wish to state respectfully but categorically that the zone, despite its visibly commendable outing for the APC at the 2023 polls, remains at the bottom and the lowest rung of the ladder in the allocation of KEY positions, both in government and within the party.

“This is a huge disadvantage capable of demoralising the zone that so loves the APC as seen in its actions.”

Zazzaga said President Bola Tinubu should look into the “disadvantaged posture the north-central has found itself in.”

He added: “We are calling on Mr President and leader of the party, His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other critical leaders and stakeholders of the party to look into the disadvantaged posture the North-central has found itself in.

“To correct some of these anomalies, the party may kindly wish to show as a mark of goodwill towards the North-central, take a step back and look again into the provisions of the party’s constitution and return the position to the North-central.”