Former two-term Kano State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, was dislodged from the exalted seat of National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), last Friday, ending a tumultuous tenure at Buhari House, the party’s national secretariat. Like some of his predecessors, Ganduje was a victim of power play within the ruling party. Checks indicated that the former governor suffered the same fate as his immediate predecessor, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who was equally forced to resign as national chairman by the Presidency.

Contradictory Claims

Investigations showed that there were varied reasons for the ouster of Ganduje, who would have been two years in office in August. While a statement from APC national secretary, Senator Ajibola Bashiru, claimed that the National Chairman exited to attend to “urgent and important personal matters,” the Progressives Governors Forum’s reaction to the development at its meeting held last Saturday in Benin, Edo State capital, was quite illuminating, as it lent credence to what was being discussed, in hushed tones, at the APC national secretariat: Ganduje was a victim of power play ahead of 2027 general election.

The APC governors which backed the Presidency in instigating Ganduje’s removal, declared that his ouster was necessary to pave way for strategic restructuring.

A communiqué read to newsmen in Benin, Edo State capital by Imo State governor and chairman of the Forum, Senator Hope Uzodimma, at the end of the two-day strategic meeting of the PGF, said the “change in party leadership is not a sign of crisis, but aligns with internal reforms and ongoing efforts to strengthen the APC.” Uzodimma maintained that Ganduje’s resignation reflects the party’s commitment to continuous evolution and adaptive governance. The governor stressed: “His Excellency, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s resignation is in tandem with the party’s continued evolution.”

APC banana peels

It would be recalled that two of the erstwhile chairmen of the APC lost out in a macabre power tussle between them and the governors: Chief Odigie Oyegun and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. Incidentally, both are from Edo State. Further checks revealed that Ganduje and his immediate predecessor, Senator Adamu, were thrown out by the incumbent President Bola Tinubu.

2027: Who gets the North rules

A party source disclosed that Ganduje, who is from the North West, had to be sacrificed ahead of the next general election by the incumbent president, who had practically earned endorsement of an automatic ticket from the leadership of the party, across the geo-political zones. The source also informed that a plan for redistribution of the APC zoning arrangement is in the offing to take the slot of Vice-Presidential candidate from the North-East to the North-West. The source, who recalled that Borno State was the only state won by the APC in the North-East in the last presidential election, noted that the Presidency was wary of losing the North-West to the Atiku Abubakar coalition. According to the source, “Tinubu’s foot soldiers believe moving the vice president slot to the North-West will neutralise the permutation of the Atiku’s group and make the region impregnable.”

Ganduje’s anti-Kwankwaso’s stance

Investigation revealed that one of the prime targets of Tinubu to make further inroad into the North-West is a former Minister of Defence and presidential candidate of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, whose political movement, the Kwankwasiyya, has followership in the North-West, beyond Kano, where he once governed and the movement was birthed.

Reports available to the Presidency, however, indicated that Ganduje is believed to be working across purposes with President Tinubu on the defection of Kwankwaso. The erstwhile national chairman was accused of having a hand in protests and uncomplimentary remarks against move to woo Kwankwaso to join the APC.

It was gathered that last May, the Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development, Yusuf Ata, after a closed-door meeting with Ganduje at the party national secretariat, decried the move to prevail on the NNPP presidential candidate to join the ruling party. Ata, also from Kano State, who led other party faithful from the North-West state, dismissed Kwankwaso as a spent force with no political value in Kano and the region.

He said unless the national chairman, who is the leader of the party in Kano, takes a decision to accept him, Kwankwaso stands rejected.

The minister of state declared: “Anybody who visits Kano State even today will see that there are a lot of changes. It is hard for you to find red caps in Kano. Before now, if you visit the mosque, you will see many red caps, but today you can visit a mosque and if 5000 people come for prayers, you cannot see 20 red caps in Kano.

“So, we are assuring the President that we are not asking for anything else. We are strongly behind our national chairman. We have been discussing with him. This is the opinion of all the Kano State APC, even at the grassroots. Kwankwaso is no longer relevant in Kano. He is only coming to APC, not that we invited him, because he is going to die politically. I am assuring you, and even Mr. President has all his security records from the grassroots in Kano.

“He is no more attractive. So, he is struggling to be accommodated in the APC. That may bring a lot of crisis in the APC in Kano state. This is our position.”

Party sources revealed that the Presidency was peeved that Ganduje who accosted his host to the media briefing, joined in dismissing efforts to prevail on Kwankwaso to join the APC as a political misadventure.

“I will not say we are not ready to welcome him. When you see your son running to where he would get shelter and you are a big brother in a big home, I think it is morally right to accommodate him. So we cannot say we cannot accommodate him because a friend in need is a friend indeed. Somebody who has been abandoned we should not allow him to wallow in darkness.”

North-Central waits in the wing

The APC National Working Committee (NWC), at its meeting held on Monday, announced that a meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) had been scheduled for July 24. The deputy National Secretary, Mr. Festus Fuanter, who addressed journalists shortly after a closed-door meeting, declared that the NEC of the party will endorse nomination of a new national chairman. Checks revealed that the exalted seat will be returned to the North-Central to pacify the zone, which felt shortchanged following the August 2023 removal of Adamu from Nasarawa State as national chairman and his replacement with Ganduje from the North-West.

Stakeholders from the North-Central have always argued that the emergence of Ganduje was in breach of provisions of the APC Constitution and the existing zoning arrangement in the ruling party. They expressed consternation why the NEC of the party deferred to provisions of Article 31.5(1) of the APC Constitution 2013 (as amended), by nominating Senator Bashiru as national secretary, a replacement for Senator Iyiola Omisore from same Osun State in the South-West zone, whereas the same provision was observed in breaches as Nasarawa was denied the slot of chairman for Ganduje in the North-West.

Ahead of the NEC, three prominent chieftains of the party from the North-Central are being touted as contenders for the seat. The list includes incumbent former Benue State Governor and Secretary to Government of the Federation, George Akume; Senator representing Niger-East, Sani Musa and a former Nasarawa governor, Senator Tanko Al-Makura.

Multiple sources showed that Senator Al-Makura appears to be the most favoured.

“Apart from being from Nasarawa State, where Abdullahi Adamu hails from, he also belongs to the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) bloc of Muhammadu Buhari, which has been accusing Tinubu of a deliberate political marginalisation. (Nigerian Tribune)