Dozens of protesters descended on the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja on Thursday, demanding the resignation of the national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje.
The demonstrators cited Ganduje’s recent suspension by a faction of his ward executives and the bribery allegations leveled against him by the Kano State government as reasons for their demand.
Carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Ganduje must resign” and “Return the APC chairmanship to North Central,” the visibly angry protesters chanted solidarity songs as they made their demands.
They appealed to Chief Bola Tinubu and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, to consider returning the party leadership to the North Central region.
Addressing journalists, the protesters, under the platform of Concerned North Central APC Stakeholders, expressed dissatisfaction with Ganduje’s continued stay in office, which they viewed as a violation of the party’s zoning process.
Leader of the demonstrators, Mohammed Mahmud Saba, highlighted the sentiment of betrayal felt by the North Central region, emphasizing their significant support for Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election.
Saba asserted that the emergence of Dr. Umar Ganduje as national chairman went against the spirit and constitution of the APC, negatively impacting the North Central region.
The protesters demanded Ganduje’s immediate resignation and urged all APC governors in the North Central to mobilize against what they termed “impunity” until their demands are met.
He stated, “We the North Central APC Concerned Stakeholders have resolved to unanimously agitate for our right and reclaim our mandate which was handed unto us by the National Convention of our great Party in 2022. Various sections of our constitution have established the procedure of replacing an executive member at all levels of the party in the event of death, resignation, incapacitation or expulsion from the party by any executive member.
“It is a fact that the emergence of Dr. Umar Ganduje as national chairman was done against the spirit and soul of the APC which is the constitution of our great party. This singular act has impacted negatively on us as a people in the North Central. We feel betrayed and spited because we gave His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the third highest votes after North West and South West in the country which put us in a better position to enjoy the fruit of our labour.
“We, therefore, demand that Dr Umar Ganduje resign immediately and stop parading himself as the National Chairman of our great party; the zoning arrangements made by the National Convention in 2022, which zoned the office of the national chairman to the North Central be respected by the NEC and all other organs of the party and that all governors elected on the platform of the APC in the North Central should wake up from their slumber and mobilize their members against this impunity until Ganduje resigns as the national chairman.”
The agitation from the North Central APC stakeholders comes in the wake of a vote of confidence passed on Ganduje by the Forum of APC State Chairmen, who endorsed his continued leadership during a recent solidarity visit to the party’s national secretariat.
