APC crisis deepens as protesting party members storm secretariat, demand resignation
There seems to be no end in sight yet to the crisis rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as several protesting party members on Thursday stormed the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, demanding the resignation of the national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje.
The placard-bearing protesters based their demand on the alleged bribery allegation levelled against Ganduje by the Kano State government as well as his recent suspension of by a faction of his ward executives.
Some inscriptions on the placards read: “Ganduje must resign” and “Return the APC chairmanship to North Central”.
The visibly enraged protesters on the platform of Concerned North Central APC Stakeholders also urged President Bola Tinubu and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, to consider returning the leadership of the party to the North Central region, adding that Ganduje’s stay in office violates the zoning arrangement of the party.
Regardless of the support of the 37 state chairmen of the party for the continuation of Ganduje as national chairman during a solidarity visit to the national secretariat of the party Mohammed Mahmud Saba, who led the protesters, said the North Central Zone has passed a vote of no confidence on Ganduje and demanded his immediate resignation.
Furthermore, he insisted that the replacement of Abdullahi Adamu, the former national chairman, with Ganduje was a clear betrayal of his region in spite of voting massively for Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election.
Saba said “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 (sic) 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.”