There was pandemonium on Thursday at Blantyre Street, the location of the All Progressives Congress National Secretariat as hired hoodlums beat up party chieftains from the North Central zone who organized protest against the continued stay in office by former Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as National Chairman of the ruling party.
Checks revealed that chieftains of the party from the North Central zone have been agitating for return of the exalted office of national chairman of the party to their region.
The immediate past National Chairman of the Party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu was former Nasarawa Governor from the North Central region.
The protesters carrying placards were demanding for removal of Umar Ganduje from Kano State in the North West zone and his replacement from the North Central geopolitical zone.
Some of the placards read, “Return APC National Chairmanship to North Central’ and ‘Dr Ganduje, kindly resign to face your prosecution in Kano’.
They were however assaulted by thugs who dispersed them while the protesters scampered for safety.
Addressing journalists shortly after they regrouped within same location,
Plateau State Coordinator of the North Central APC Stakeholders, Hamisu Suleiman who expressed disappointment over the physical attacks vowed that they would not relent in the ouster of Ganduje as he maintained that his retention of the office of national Chairman was clear breach of the provisions of the Party Constitution and zoning arrangement in the party.
He said: “We came here only to be attacked by thugs sponsored by the party. They did not only beat us, they stripped us of the banners and drove our people away from the APC secretariat. “Today, we are here to protest the unfair treatment meted out to people of the North Central. This is because the national chairmanship of the APC was mistakenly given to Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.
“We are therefore calling the attention of our dear President Bola Tinubu to correct the anomaly. We know that he will listen to us. The APC chairman position is supposed to be zoned according to the constitution of the party and the same constitution confers the position on us. Unfortunately, it was zoned to the North West and we will not accept it.
“We are here for justice and justice must be served. I am calling the attention of all the stakeholders of the party to return our mandate. This is why we are protesting here today. It is our right and nobody can take it away from us.”
Speaking in a similar vein, Nasarawa State chairman of North Central Forum, Sani Jigas called on the Governors in the North Central region to demand from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the return of the exalted seat to the region.
He said:” This is our mandate. It is well known to everybody that there is a consensus at the national convention that the APC chairmanship should be zoned to the North Central. We are still agitating for that.
“We are not afraid of their thugs. We will remain here until justice is done. We are also calling on our governors because we are aware of the meeting of North Central governors and stakeholders in Lafia by next week.”
Further checks by Nigerian Tribune revealed that two North Central groups had since filed suits seeking to nullify Abdullahi Ganduje’s national chairmanship position in the APC.
In an originating summons filed by Muhammed Saidu Etsu, on behalf of the group through their counsel, Joshua Oka Obono Obla, the group argued that Ganduje’s appointment by the National Executive Committee (NEC) on August 3, 2023, following Senator Abdullahi Adamu’s resignation, contravened the party’s constitution.
They are asking the court to set aside Ganduje’s appointment as the APC National Chairman, alleging that the APC failed to comply with the procedure laid down by the party’s constitution.
Defendants in the suit include Ganduje, the APC, the NEC of the APC, and the NWC of the APC.
Similarly, the North Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum, represented by their counsel, Ayuba Abdul, filed a suit before a Federal High Court in Abuja challenging Ganduje’s nomination to replace Adamu in 2023.
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