The continued stay in office of Abdullahi Ganduje as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is expected to be a major point of contention during the upcoming caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings of the party scheduled for September 11 and 12.
This was revealed by the APC’s National Secretary, Dr. Surajudeen Ajibola, amid growing internal debates within the party.
The debate has intensified as two party chieftains, Chief Oliver Okpala and Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, exchanged heated words over whether Ganduje should remain in his position as chairman.
Okpala, who serves as Ganduje’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Enlightenment, criticized Zazzaga’s recent attacks on Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, who had expressed confidence in Ganduje’s leadership.
Sule, who is the chairman of the North-Central APC Governors Forum, had last Thursday called for unified support for Ganduje’s leadership to ensure the party’s success in the upcoming Edo and Ondo governorship elections.
However, Zazzaga, speaking on behalf of the North Central Forum of the APC, accused Governor Sule of betraying his state and the North Central geopolitical zone by supporting Ganduje.
Zazzaga argued that the position of the national chairman rightfully belongs to the North Central zone based on the APC’s power-sharing arrangement.
He suggested that Sule’s support for Ganduje was driven by personal political ambitions rather than the interests of his region.
In response, Okpala defended Sule’s position, insisting that well-meaning members of the APC from the North Central zone should recognize the validity of Sule’s endorsement of Ganduje.
Billed the attend the parley to be held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa are President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; his Vice, Sen Kashim Shettima; former President,
Muhammadu Buhari; and his then Deputy, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, among other party big wigs.
Ajibola, in a notification yesterday, disclosed that the NEC meeting would be held on September 12 at the Nicon Hilton Hotel Abuja.
