Victor EzejaFollowing the resignation of Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, there are speculations that some power blocs within the All Progressives Congress (APC) are pushing for the immediate past governor of Kano State Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, to succeed him as the substantive National Chairman.
However, the move said to be championed by a group of governors of the party, has been jettisoned by the Vice Chairman, of APC Northwest, Salihu Lukman, who described it as “unjust.”
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In a statement titled ‘APC: Way Forward’ Lukman, said if such speculation is true, “it only suggests insensitivity and taking members of the party for granted.”
According to him, taking such a decision would distort the zoning arrangement of the APC that informed the present configuration of the leadership of the National Assembly.
For the principal offices of the 10th National Assembly, the party zoned Senate president position to South-South, deputy senate president, North-west; Speaker North-west and Deputy Speaker, South-east.
Lukman argued that since the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Deputy Senate President come from North-west, it would be “unjust” for the party to appoint the next national chairman from the North-west, leaving the North-central with none.
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The out-gone national chairman came from north-central zone. Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State and senator, who represented Nasarawa West in the National Assembly, resigned during the weekend alongside the National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore from Osun State.
Adamu was replaced by Deputy National Chairman (North), Senator Abubakar Kyari, in an acting capacity.
Lukman said that following the resignation of Adamu, there has been all manner of speculations as to which way to move the party forward, but most of them are driven by interest to control affairs of the party.
He warned that any attempt to restructure the party’s leadership that does not tilt towards restoring constitutional order would defeat the “decision to have a change of leadership” which led to the resignation of Adamu and Omisore in the first place.
“In fact, if anything, some of the speculations, if true, will reduce to nonsense the decision to have a change of leadership, which means that no lessons have been learnt from all the circumstances of the last few years since the emergence of APC as a political party.
“It is, therefore, necessary that at this very early stage of negotiating new leadership for the APC, we caution all our leaders that the only way we can justify the exit of Sen. Abdullahi Adamu and Sen. Iyiola Omisore out of the leadership of the APC is by demonstrating a commitment to restore constitutional order in APC and return the party to its founding vision of being a progressive party.
“These are issues that would appear to be taken for granted and if not engaged could be abused by power blocs within the party, which could lead to the emergence of leaders that are worse than Sen. Adamu and Sen. Omisore. This must be avoided,” he advised.
He said that so far, only the president and Governors blocs are active in the negotiations to produce and engage leaders of APC.
“So far, as things are, only the President and Governors blocs are active in the negotiation to produce and engage leaders of APC.
“Already, part of the speculations emerging from the Governors bloc is that Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje is being considered to succeed Sen. Abdullahi Adamu. If this is true, it only suggests insensitivity and taking members of the party for granted. This is without prejudice to the person of Dr. Ganduje. This is because such a choice will completely distort the zoning arrangement that informed the present configuration of the leadership of the National Assembly. With the Speaker of House of Representatives and Deputy Senate President coming from North West and North Central shut out of consideration, to propose the party’s National Chairman to move to North West from North Central will be unjust and almost a political suicide.
“We must caution our Governors that since the emergence of APC, Governors have served almost as the conscience of the party. Any consideration for such an insensitive and unjust consideration of Dr. Ganduje to become the National Chairman of APC must be discarded.”
He called on the party to allow North Central produce the substantive national chairman.
He said that “part of the challenge of managing the current transition within the party is getting the National Working Committee (NWC) to properly take the driving seat in managing and facilitating negotiations to produce and engage leaders of the party.”
He charged the NWC to “sit up and guide the unfolding negotiations” in the party, and warned that “no single power bloc should be allowed to appropriate the process.”
Talking about restoring constitutional order in APC, Lukman said it is basically about complying with extant provisions of the party’s constitution, adding that a situation whereby the National Chairman usurped powers of NWC and all organs of the party is unacceptable. He said the inability of the party’s organs to function will block any attempt to return the party to its founding vision of becoming a progressive party.
“All organs of the party, namely, National Advisory Council (NAC), National Caucus, National Executive Committee (NEC), etc. must be allowed to function in accordance with provisions of the party’s constitution. The irresponsible culture of asking organs of the party to donate their powers to the NWC, which basically empowers the National Chairman to convert all the resources of the party to personal use must end,” he added.
He said that apart from Governors, National Assembly Caucus, and elders, there are other power blocs, like Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities who are recognized in the APC constitution but yet to be constituted, and to that extent have been very passive.
“The extent to which all these power blocs are active in the negotiations to produce and engage leaders of the party will confirm whether necessary steps are being taken to return the APC to its founding vision of progressive politics
“Through restoring constitutional order, we can activate some of the power blocs to actively participate in the process of producing and engaging leaders of the party.”
He further suggested that the intervention of the president as the leader of the party is equally need to “moderate the excessive conduct of any power bloc, especially when such conduct risks further damaging the prospect of returning the APC to its founding vision.”
“At these early stages of President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s leadership of the party, he needs to make that strong intervention to guide the process of restoring constitutional order and returning the APC to its founding vision of progressive politics. Progressive politics must be about inclusion and justice and not some blind and insensitive considerations,” he stated.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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