Photo: Salihu Lukman
APC chairmanship: Replacing Adamu with Ganduje will marginalize North-Central —Lukman
The National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) North West, Salihu Lukman, has taken a swipe at the moves by some interest groups within the ruling party to replace the recently resigned party National Chairman, Sen Abdullahi Adamu with former Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, stressing that the move was insensitive and politically suicidal.
Ganduje, from North-West, is being considered by some stakeholders within the APC for the position of National Chairman of the party, to replace Adamu from the North-Central zone.
Lukman, while commenting on the development, argued that it would distort the party’s zoning formula, which originally allocated the office to the North-Central zone, thus excluding them from leadership positions in the 10th National Assembly. Lukman expressed concerns that this decision would be taking party members for granted.
Lukman cautioned against this, emphasizing that it would be unjust to disregard the North Central region and could lead to political suicide for the party.
He said that the speculations about the party’s leadership transition lacks a commitment to restore constitutional order and uphold the party’s original vision of progressive politics.
According to him, the negotiations for the new leadership primarily involves the President and Governors’ blocs, and some reports suggest that Ganduje is a potential candidate for the National Chairman position.
The APC stalwart stressed that the National Chairman position should be retained in the North-Central region and urged the need for the National Working Committee (NWC) to take charge of the negotiations and not allow any single power bloc to dominate the process.
Lukman urged President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to intervene and guide the party back to its founding vision of inclusion and justice in progressive politics.
He warned that if the party failed to demonstrate a commitment to restoring constitutional order and upholding its progressive ideals, it may lead to the emergence of worse leaders than the ones who resigned.
Lukman also stressed the importance of complying with the party’s constitution and allowing all organs of the party to function properly, rather than concentrating power in the National Chairman’s hands.
He noted that a progressive party should focus on setting goals and strategies to improve the lives of citizens and hold elected officials accountable, adding that running elections was important, but it should not overshadow the party’s vision of inclusive and progressive governance.
