PBA Reporter-
Ganduje/Basiru Post Another Muslim/Muslim Headship
AT a time when many party faithful looked forward to a rapprochement among the geopolitical zones in the sharing of party’s offices, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) once again shunned the Southeast in the configuration of its leadership.
Shortly after the national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, and secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, resigned from their former offices, some chieftains of the party expressed the hope that the Deputy National Chairman, North, Abubakar Kyari, would step in as acting national chairman, while Omisore’s replacement should be taken from any ranking member of the APC National Working Committee (NWC) from Southeast.
However, that re-engineering was not to be as the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, which met Thursday at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, settled for the immediate former Kano State governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje as chairman, and Senator Ajibola Basiru was elected as national Secretary.
Ganduje’s emergence was said to be a bold move by President Bola Tinubu to reward his loyalty, particularly after trading off his senatorial ticket for peace and reconciliation in the Kano State chapter of the party towards the 2023 general elections.
Although party faithful from North Central geopolitical agitated for a replacement of Senator Adamu to come from their zone, it was gathered that the President insisted on Ganduje from Northwest geopolitical zone that gave him prodigious votes in the February 25 presidential poll.
A party source disclosed that the decision to zone the chairmanship to the Northwest prompted some bigwigs from Southeast to nurse the ambition of throwing up a replacement for Omisore as national secretary from the zone.
The sources explained that Tinubu decided to call the bluff of Southeast following the insignificant votes he recorded in the zone as well as the election petition battle being waged by the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi.
“We have come to believe that the President is doing everything to have the party structure under his total control. He does not want to experience similar recklessness exhibited by party leaders during President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
“Make no mistake about this, it would not be far fetched to say that APC is strategizing for a possible rerun of the presidential poll. Obi enjoys massive following in the Southeast, therefore the geopolitical zone does not seem to matter for now. That is just it,” the source stated.
He dismissed insinuations in some quarters that the resignation of the Legal Adviser, Ahmed El-Marzuq, was a trigger for massive resentment within the party, even as he regretted that most party chieftain expected that a Christian national secretary could have been chosen from either Southeast or South/South to strike a balance.
The former national legal adviser had explained that his resignation was to pave the way for a reset of the NWC based on the new realities in the party.
There has not been any official reaction from the Southeast zonal chapter of the party, but it would be recalled that the Imo State governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, who doubles as the chairman of Progressives Governors’ Forum, was instrumental to the resignation of Senator Adamu, which is part of the restructuring of APC hierarchy.
A wave of quiet resentment swelled within the APC fold immediately the former National Vice Chairman, Dr. Saliu Lukman, resigned from his office following what insiders said was part of the grumbling by the NWC members that the President was planning to emasculate the party leadership.
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