APC tackles Lukman for urging opposition to unseat Tinubu 

N’Central insists on party chairmanship, flays moves to retain Ganduje

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has tackled the former director-general of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Salihu Lukman, for calling on leading lights in opposition political parties to join forces to unseat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 poll.

In a related development, groups from the North Central, within and outside the party, are insisting on the party’s chairmanship, while condemning plans to retain former Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.

Lukman, who is the immediate past National Vice Chairman (North) of APC, resigned his membership of the party on the basis that the APC-led administration had not only inflicted hardship on Nigerians but failed to adhere strictly to the dictates of the party’s constitution.

The vitriolic critic of Tinubu’s style of leadership, last week, called on the 2023 presidential candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso to set aside their differences and join forces to defeat Tinubu in the 2027 poll.

However, APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, stated that it was ludicrous to tout opposition PDP and LP that could not even manage their internal affairs as capable of offering responsible and visionary leadership to Nigeria.

APC claimed that Lukman’s latest call for opposition leaders to unite against the APC was a calculated move to cobble political relevance, divert attention from the Tinubu administration’s substantial progress and further his selfish agenda.

Describing Lukman as a cantankerous political rodomont, the party argued that it was surprising that he suddenly found faith in the opposition parties that he devoted a good number of years lampooning as inept, chronically corrupt, unpatriotic and destructive to the country’s democracy.

Arguing that Lukman lacked conviction and staying power to justify any cause, the APC asserted that he was not in any position to advise Nigerians on how to vote or who to vote for.

FOLLOWING the postponement of the National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC), meetings of APC, initially scheduled for September 11, the APC North Central Caucus has continued to insist on producing the party’s national chairman.

Chairman of APC North Central Caucus, Saleh Zazzaga, restated the demand in a chat with newsmen yesterday.

Going by subsisting zoning arrangements, the North Central – comprising Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory – is supposed to produce the present national chairman of APC.

Former governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Adamu, emerged as the party’s National Chairman at the March 2022 national convention, following the zoning of the position to the North Central. But he resigned from the position in July 2023 without completing his tenure, and Ganduje, a former governor of Kano in the North West, was appointed as his replacement.

The North Central caucus had opposed Ganduje’s appointment as national chairman and insisted that he be replaced with someone from the zone.

It was expected that issues surrounding the position of national chairman would top the agenda of the now-postponed NEC meeting.

The APC NEC has not met since Ganduje emerged as national chairman. There were indications that Ganduje’s appointment as national chairman was to be ratified at the NEC meeting.

Feelers at the APC national secretariat indicated that Tinubu, who initially gave the go-ahead for the NEC and national caucus meetings, is favourably disposed to the ratification of Ganduje’s leadership and wanted to push the agenda at the meeting.

However, Morka announced the postponement of the meetings in a statement released late on Monday, September 9.

“Members of the National Caucus and NEC of APC are hereby informed that the National Caucus and NEC meetings scheduled for September 11 and 12, 2024, respectively, have been postponed,” the statement reads.

ALSO, North Central Vanguard for Social Justice (NCVSJ) has condemned the subterranean moves in some quarters to frustrate the North Central from reclaiming the seat of the National Chairman of APC.

In a statement, yesterday, signed by its chairman, Silas Ibrahim, NCVSJ noted that from the outset, it was a grave injustice to have allowed Ganduje to step in after Adamu.

“More so, the North Central is a strong political base of the APC; we recall that the people voted overwhelmingly for the party during the 2023 presidential and governorship elections. Now, the party is in full control of five out of the six states in the geopolitical zone; it deserves fair treatment from the leadership of the party,” Ibrahim said.

The group chided some political elements in the zone, who recently endorsed Ganduje to continue as the National Chairman of APC, adding that they were simply pursuing personal interests not in line with the collective position of other party members in the zone.

The group, therefore, called on Tinubu and other stakeholders to intervene and ensure that justice prevailed in the matter, adding that “this will give North Central a sense of belonging and a rightful place in the party.”