R-L: President Bola Tinubu, Sen. Tanko Al-Makura.
By Abdul Hassan
The North-Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has endorsed a former governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Tanko Al-Makura, for the position of National Chairman of the party.
Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, Chairman of the Forum, who made this known in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, said the endorsement followed extensive consultations among the zone’s APC stakeholders.
“After extensive deliberations among stakeholders of the North-Central region, the North-Central APC Forum has decided to endorse Senator Tanko Al-Makura for the position of APC National Chairman.
“This is in furtherance of our demand that the position of National Chairman should return to the North-Central in line with the zoning arrangement of the APC,” Zazzaga said.
He noted that Al-Makura was from the same North-Central zone, particularly Nasarawa State, where the former national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, hails from.
Zazzaga said that Al-Makura is also from the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) bloc, which is part of the three legacy parties that merged to form the APC.
According to him, the three legacy parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the CPC bloc is the only one that has not held the APC chairmanship position.
The statement titled: “Why Al-Makura deserves to be APC National Chairman,” reads in part as follows:
“Sen. Tanko Al-Makura is a former two-term Governor whose clout and experience are pluses and both former and sitting governors will see him as one of their own.
“He is a former senator who was seen as part and parcel of legislature. He was among the chairmanship aspirants who accepted without grudges to the consensus option that threw up Abdullahi Adamu as National Chairman during the APC National Convention in 2022.
“His loyalty to APC and Mr. President is not in doubt.
“He has discharged critical party assignments in the country that gave him first hand ideas and intrinsic knowledge of the party nationally.”
Zazzaga listed Al-Makura’s numerous party assignments to include Chairman, Ekiti State APC Primary Election Committee that produced former Gov. Kayode Fayemi in 2018.
He said Almakura also served as the Chairman of the North-East Zone Reconciliation Committee in 2018, and member of the Bisi Akande Reconciliation Committee in 2020.
Zazzaga also noted that Al-Makura was among the CPC bloc stakeholders who stood by the APC and President Bola Tinubu when some members wanted to pull out of the party and join the opposition coalition, earlier in 2025.
The forum chairman further said: “He has a very rich experience and knowledge of political activities as he was Youth Leader (Old Plateau State) in the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) – 1979; State Secretary, National Republican Convention (Plateau State)– 1989.
“Founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – 1999; Governor on the platform of the CPC – 2011; pioneer member and signatory to the merger that formed APC – 2013; and APC Senator – 2019.
“He is a bridge builder and an advocate of inclusivity as he relates with the disability community that has over 20 million people as he is also a person living with disability.”
Al-Makura’s endorsement by the forum comes barely 24 hours after it earlier on Saturday released a statement demanding the return of the position of National Chairman to the zone.
It would be recalled that by virtue of the subsisting zoning arrangement of the party, the North-Central is supposed to produce the National Chairman of the ruling party.
Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State, became APC National Chairman when the position was zoned to the zone during the party’s National Convention in March 2022.
Adamu, however, resigned in July 2023 , resigned in controversial circumstances without completing his tenure, which culminated in the appointment of former Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, as National Chairman in August 2023.
Ganduje, like Adamu, also resigned on Friday, prompting the forum to demand the return of the position to the zone to enable it complete Adamu’s tenure.
