CPC Bloc, N/Central Kickstart Push To Replace Ganduje As APC Chairman

The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) bloc within the All Progressives Congress (APC) has begun pushing to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of former National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje.

Naijaonpoint recalls that Ganduje suddenly resigned on Friday via a letter submitted to the party’s National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Bashiru, citing ill health.

His resignation was formally confirmed in a statement on Saturday by APC National Publicity Secretary, Barrister Felix Morka.

However, credible sources disclosed that a key reason Ganduje resigned was that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had finalised plans for the defection of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State and longtime rival of Ganduje, into the APC.

Speaking to Daily Trust, sources from the CPC bloc disclosed that the faction is begun agitation for the chairmanship in the name of fairness and justice.

It was gathered that the North Central APC Forum on Sunday endorsed former Nasarawa State governor, Senator Tanko Al-Makura, the only CPC governor from 2011 to 2019, to succeed Ganduje As national chairman.

In a statement signed by the forum’s chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the group said its endorsement followed wide consultations among stakeholders in the region.

According to the forum, Al-Makura is a loyal party man who had accepted the consensus candidacy of Adamu during the 2022 APC National Convention without dissent.

It said he possesses the clout, loyalty, and experience necessary to lead the party, adding that Al-Makura has handled key party assignments in the past, giving him deep insight into the party’s workings nationwide.

Speaking to Daily Trust yesterday, a North East APC chieftain, Abdullahi Jalo, said the chairmanship should go to the North Central and the CPC bloc, noting that Al-Makura was widely tipped to take over from Ganduje.

He described the agitation as “real and legitimate,” adding that “the APC will not make a mistake.”

On his part, a former presidential candidate, Chekwas Okorie, also backed the North Central, saying the region had long felt marginalised since Adamu was replaced by Ganduje.

“The North-Central has not been quiet in expressing their alienation from that office. When Ganduje took over, it felt like a sidelining of the region. It’s only fair to return the chairmanship there,” he said.

Similarly, members of the defunct CPC in the 7th National Assembly held a meeting in Abuja, calling on President Tinubu to address what they described as continued marginalisation of their bloc within the APC.

Speaking at a press conference, former House of Representatives member Aliyu Gebi said the CPC group had been unfairly excluded from party leadership and deserved proper recognition.

“We cannot sit here and pretend marginalisation doesn’t exist,” Gebi said. “We were thrown out of a vehicle that we created.”

Others at the meeting included Senator Ibrahim Musa, Hon. Sanusi Aliyu, Hon. Mohammed Tukur, Senator Ahmed Sani, Hon. Ibrahim Chachangi, Hon. Yusuf Bala, and the APC National Vice Chairman (North West), Hon. Garuba Datti.

Since its formation, the APC has had five national chairmen – Chief Bisi Akande (ACN), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun (ANPP), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole (ACN), Mai Mala Buni (APC caretaker), and Senator Abdullahi Adamu (PDP). Ganduje, who hailed from the PDP fold, became the sixth.

Only the CPC has not yet produced a substantive national chairman from the political blocs that merged to create the APC.