Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress met with President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday ahead of the ruling party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for Thursday.
The Chairman of the APC’s Progressive Governors Forum, Hope Uzodinma, told journalists after the Abuja meeting that the meeting was to strengthen the party and enhance its capacity to deliver good governance to Nigerians.
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Mr Uzodinma was coy about what Nigerians should expect from the NEC meeting.
When asked whether any major decisions are expected at the meeting, he said, “We cannot say what will happen until we get there tomorrow.”
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It is unclear if the APC NEC will take a definite position on the zoning of the position of national chairman of the party following the recent resignation of Abdullahi Ganduje from the position.
PREMIUM TIMES reported Mr Ganduje’s resignation, which he claimed was for health reasons. He has since assumed his new role as the chairperson of the board of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
Although Mr Ganduje, former governor of Kano State, is from the North-west, the position of APC national chairman is expected to be zoned to the North-central.
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The position was originally zoned to the North-central, comprising Benue, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Kogi and Kwara States.
Until Mr Ganduje’s emergence as national chairman in August 2023, Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State, occupied the position.
Mr Adamu and the then National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore, from Osun State, resigned presumably under pressure.
Since then, APC faithful from the North-central have been angling for the position of national chairman to be reverted to the zone. Ali Dalori currently occupies it in an acting capacity.
Mr Dalori was the party’s deputy national chairman (North) before his appointment on 28 June.
The North-central APC Forum had sued Mr Ganduje, INEC and the party, seeking the return of the position to the zone. The court, presided over by Inyang Ekwo, threw out the case in 2024.
Ganduje’s possible replacement
Already, names of some prominent figures from the zone have been bandied about in the media as a possible replacement for Mr Ganduje.
They include the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, a former governor of Nasarawa State; Tanko Al-Makura, Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance; Sani Musa, a former governor of Plateau State; and Joshua Dariye.
Others mentioned are a former senator for Nasarawa North, Solomon Ewuga; a former National Chairman of the PDP, Barnabas Gemade; and a former APC national chairman aspirant, Mohammed Etsu.
Mr Akume has since denied vying for the position. Like Mr Etsu, Messrs Al-Makura and Musa were chairmanship aspirants in 2022, but gave way to Mr Adamu, who was favoured by the then President Muhammadu Buhari, to emerge as the chairman.
Special session for Buhari
Apart from the possible replacement of Mr Ganduje, the NEC meeting may also hold a special session for Mr Buhari, the first president produced by the party.
This is the first meeting of the organ of the party since the death of the former president on 13 July.
Party changes NEC meeting venue
Meanwhile, the National Working Committee (NWC) has changed the venue of the NEC meeting to the Presidential Villa.
The APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, announced this in a terse statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja.
Mr Morka said that the meeting, earlier planned to be held at the party’s national secretariat on Blantyre Street, Wuse 2, Abuja, would now be held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.
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According to him, the change of the meeting venue was occasioned by some logistical reasons.
Expected Attendees
Among those expected at Thursday’s meeting, according to section 12.3 of the APC Constitution, are President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Abbas Tajudeen, and their deputies, governors, and NWC members.
No Caucus meeting
The National Caucus meeting was expected to precede the NEC meeting, but it was allegedly put off by President Tinubu.
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