The man who was in the forefront of the pressure group which forced Senator Abdullahi Adamu out as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mallam Salihu Lukman, has said that the strong speculation that the immediate past Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, has been pencilled down to replace Adamu, will be a huge mistake if true.
Lukman who is the National Vice Chairman, l North-West, of the Party, warned that doing that will not only be unfair to the North Central where Adamu comes from, but that it will disrupt the Party’s zoning arrangement.
Speculations are strong that President Bola Tinubu has penciled down Ganduje as Adamu’s replacement.
Adamu and the National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, were forced to resign a couple of days ago under untidy circumstances bordering on allegations of misappropriation of party funds. However, not a few people say that President Tinubu went after Adamu because the now former Chairman did not support him during the Party’s Presidential Primaries. Adamu’s pick was the immediate past Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan.
Lukman, in a statement he issued in Abuja on Thursday titled ‘APC: Way Forward,’ pointed out that picking Ganduje as Adamu’s replacement, if true, would be the height of insensitivity.
His words: “So far, as things are, only the President and Governors blocs are active in the negotiation to produce and engage leaders of APC.
“Already, part of the speculations emerging from the Governors’ bloc is that Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje is being considered to succeed Sen. Abdullahi Adamu. If this is true, it only suggests insensitivity and taking members of the party for granted. This is without prejudice to the person of Dr. Ganduje.
“This is because such a choice will completely distort the zoning arrangement that informed the present configuration of the leadership of the National Assembly.
“With the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Deputy Senate President coming from North West and North Central shut out of consideration, to propose the party’s National Chairman moves to North West from North Central will be unjust.
“We must caution our Governors that since the emergence of APC, Governors have served almost as the conscience of the party. Any consideration for such an insensitive and unjust consideration of Dr. Ganduje to become the National Chairman of APC must be discarded. If anything, the position of National Chairman of the APC must be retained in North Central.
“Part of the challenge of managing the current transition within the party is getting the NWC to properly take the driving seat in managing and facilitating negotiations to produce and engage leaders of the party.
“The NWC must sit up and guide the unfolding negotiations. No single power bloc should be allowed to appropriate the process.”
Lukman asked Tinubu to speak up and take care of the tension already building up, so as to return the APC to its founding vision of progressive politics.
He said:“This is where the intervention of the President, being the leader of the party would be required to moderate the excessive conduct of any power bloc, especially when such conduct risks further damaging the prospect of returning the APC to its founding vision.
“At these early stages of President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s leadership of the party, he needs to make that strong intervention to guide the process of restoring constitutional order and returning the APC to its founding vision of progressive politics. Progressive politics must be about inclusion and justice and not some blind and insensitive considerations.
“Following the resignation of Sen. Abdullahi Adamu and Sen. Iyiola Omisore as National Chairman and National Secretary respectively, there is all manner of speculations as to which way forward. Of course, understandably, most of the speculations, if not all, are driven by interests to control the affairs of the party.
“It is, therefore, necessary that at this very early stage of negotiating new leadership for the APC, we caution all our leaders that the only way we can justify the exit of Sen. Abdullahi Adamu and Sen. Iyiola Omisore out of the leadership of the APC is by demonstrating a commitment to restore constitutional order in APC and return the party to its founding vision of being a progressive party.
“These are issues that would appear to be taken for granted and if not engaged could be abused by power blocs within the party, which could lead to the emergence of leaders that are worse than Sen. Adamu and Sen. Omisore. This must be avoided.”
Ganduje is currently in Court battling allegations of corruption levelled against him and fighting off any move to arrest him.
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