The North-Central has been laying claim to the position of National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, being occupied by Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the North-West. Their contention is that the zone reserves the right to continue in the position after Senator Abudullahi Adamu, from the North-Central vacated post-2023 elections. Alhaji Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, chairman, North-Central APC Forum, and member of the Presidential Campaign Council in the last election, speaks with ISAAC SHOBAYO on why the North-Central is insistent on reclaiming the position of APC National Chairman.
Ahead of the September 11 and 12 NEC meeting of the All Progressives Congress, APC, your forum, along with other pressure groups within the North-Central geopolitical zone, has been mounting pressures on relevant stakeholders to reclaim the seat of the national chairman of the party. What are the issues at stake?
The matter is very simple. What we are advocating is to be given our due right and privilege. Everyone knows that the North-Central zone has been occupying that position in the person of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who resigned from his position. Due to the arrangement and zoning of the party, the position ought to have remained in the North-Central, but to our surprise, Abdullahi Ganduje from the North-West was brought in as national chairman and, since then, all we are saying is that the chairmanship position should be returned to the North-Central for the sake of justice, fairness, and equity. That is all we are asking for and it is not too much for us to ask for that, considering the support and contribution of the zone to the success of the party since 2015. For instance, in the 2023 elections, the North-Central produced five governors out of the six states in the zone. That is a big plus and boost not only to the North-Central but also the APC as a family. Besides, the zone played a key role in the emergence of Bola Tinubu as president. So you can clearly see that the North-Central region has been a critical supporter, stakeholder, and bedrock of the APC over the years. So, there are no other issues at stake; this is just all there is to it.
Are you aware that there are some bigwigs within the APC from the North-Central scheming for the incumbent Dr. Ganduje to continue in office?
There are no critical stakeholders from the North-Central who are doing things contrary to our collective resolve in this matter, because we have unanimously agreed on this. The few who are trying to betray the region are only doing so for their selfish interests, and we know them. We understand that they have been bribed and bought over to do things against in the interest of the entire region. This is because there is no one who is from this zone and truly believes in the progress and success of the North-Central who will want to do harmful things to the region or which will bring disadvantage or backwardness. So, as I said, there are no party chieftains or critical stakeholders from the region who will actually want to betray the region. The only two people we have seen in this respect so far are the governor of Nasarawa State, in the person of A. A. Sule and the former Senate president, Ameh Ebute. But as for Governor Sule, he has already denied [the allegation] through Kassim Muh’d Kassim, his Special Adviser on Political Affairs, that his visit to Ganduje was not to endorse him ahead of the NEC and caucus meeting of the party coming up on 11th and 12th of this September but to discuss the progress of the party as well as the forthcoming election in Edo State, and also how to resolve the crisis within the party in Benue. That is what the governor is now saying, but we know very well that it is our pressure and criticism of him that is making him to deny the endorsement.
And as for the former Senate president, Ameh Ebute, we are not taking him seriously because he is a lone ranger as far as this issue is concerned. The elders forum of the party from the zone that he is claiming to represent is strange to many of us. And we can equally ask the elders forum what have been their antecedents, achievements, performances, and support for the party all this while? Even in his own Benue State, what have been his achievements and [what has he done to] boost the APC so far? If there is any, let him present it. But for our scorecard, the North-Central APC Forum has been on the ground for years now pushing for the progress and interest of the party in terms of party progress, pressure on leaders to do the right thing, humanitarian services, community development services, surveillance of the region, and pushing for its economic and security stability, as well as performing watchdog roles.
But some people believe that the North-Central APC forum is being sponsored. What is your take on this?
For anyone to say that the North-Central APC Forum is being sponsored is laughable and ludicrous. As I just mentioned above, the forum has been there for years now, and we have been pushing for the success of the North-Central region. Sometimes, we even go beyond party and religious affiliations, social strata, and other ethno-religious considerations just to push for the progress of the North-Central region. So, if anyone said we have been sponsored, the question I have for such a person is: who is sponsoring us and on which particular issue are we being sponsored? Let anyone who said he or she is sponsoring us come out and say it. It is the love for the region that makes us establish this forum in 2018 in order to address the economic and security challenges of the region since we are of the ruling party. We have been the ones spending our money, and largely supported by myself, over the years. Check out our educational policy, where scholarships were given to hundreds of orphans whose parents were killed as a result of the crises/insecurity in the region. And thankfully, too, the Tribune has a strong base and presence in the region and would have at one time or another reported our activities. All these and more can be accessed online by Googling us or through any search engine. In fact, it is the love for our selfless regional activities and engagement that has buoyed the love and support for the forum. And just to mention a few, we have pushed for the presidency position and vice-presidency position for the region, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, North-Central Development Commission, among others. We have even gone beyond our region to canvass for any good leader who will do things for the interest of our region. In this respect, therefore, when President Tinubu indicated interest in the presidency, we supported him wholly, having considered his antecedents and achievements as Lagos State governor then, as well as his solid contribution to the development of our great party, the APC. And our support for the president has been before, during, the 2023 elections and it continues till date. I can therefore proudly tell the whole world that we are actually operating over the years for the interest of the region, and not those who have been hurriedly manipulated and bribed to come out now to be speaking or betraying the region due to the upcoming APC NEC meeting and subsequent congress.
Are you aware that the Ganduje you want to unseat, it is being said, has secured the backing of President Tinubu and the Progressives Governor’s Forum?
I don’t think so and I wouldn’t believe so. The President Tinubu we all know believes in justice, equity, and fairness, as well as in zoning arrangements, which is what brought him to power. So, we believe and trust that thepPresident knows and will do that which is right because he is a father to all and a man of proper focus who will want to do the correct thing at all times. And that is why we are truly backing him in all his endeavours. And as for the progressive governors you are talking about, we all know that no governor from the North-Central region is backing Ganduje to continue occupying the seat, which is understandably for the region. That is why we are thanking them for not supporting Governor Sule in his clandestine move to endorse Ganduje.
Do you subscribe to the notion that the call for Ganduje to continue is a result of his contribution to the success of the party in the 2023 polls?
How did Ganduje contribute to the success of the party in the 2023 elections? How? We all played our individual and collective roles in the success of the party, which cannot be attributed to any particular person. Come to talk of Ganduje, we are not supposed to talk to him in any way. All we are fighting for is what rightfully should belong to the North-Central. But we all know that Ganduje, as a formal governor, could not deliver his state for the APC. So with that alone, it is clear that his contribution to the success of the party in 2023 is just some people holding on to illusion. It is needless for us to begin to mention the allegations against him. Besides, there are issues of rejection even from his ward in Kano State, apart from some of the legal liabilities being incurred for the party. And let me tell you this: there are so many misfortunes befalling the party already. In our quest to boost membership of our party and poach eminent personalities and strong forces from other parties, not only in the North-Central but in the northern region and the country at large, we understood that many people wanted to defect to the APC from other parties but were prevented from doing so due to the policy and leadership style of Ganduje. Some of them have confided in us outright that they will not be coming to the party under the leadership of Ganduje, who has no regard for them or any quality policy that will advance the party.
The political fortune of your party is at the moment dwindling due to the hardship in the country occasioned by some economic policies of the APC-led administration at the centre. Don’t you think this might have an adverse effect on the party in the long run?
This is an issue that has already been taken advantage of by many mischief-makers. We all know that the policies of the president are those that are futuristic, even if they are momentarily painful. But we all know how things are with people; they mostly look at the now and not the future. And to make it worse, some enemies of the administration are already using this to instigate the people against the government. But if we must connect this to what or how some Western world today developed, we can see that some of the economic policies then appeared to be harsh. But in the long run, it paid off for them and, today, they have been celebrated the world over and also patronised as leading economic champions. So I call on the people to be a little patient with the president, as this is a passing phase and a trying moment that will turn out for the best.
rum of the party from the zone that he is claiming to represent is strange to many of us. And we can equally ask the elders forum what have been their antecedents, achievements, performances, and support for the party all this while? Even in his own Benue State, what have been his achievements and [what has he done to] boost the APC so far? If there is any, let him present it. But for our scorecard, the North-Central APC Forum has been on the ground for years now pushing for the progress and interest of the party in terms of party progress, pressure on leaders to do the right thing, humanitarian services, community development services, surveillance of the region, and pushing for its economic and security stability, as well as performing watchdog roles.
But some people believe that the North-Central APC forum is being sponsored. What is your take on this?
For anyone to say that the North-Central APC Forum is being sponsored is laughable and ludicrous. As I just mentioned above, the forum has been there for years now, and we have been pushing for the success of the North-Central region. Sometimes, we even go beyond party and religious affiliations, social strata, and other ethno-religious considerations just to push for the progress of the North-Central region. So, if anyone said we have been sponsored, the question I have for such a person is: who is sponsoring us and on which particular issue are we being sponsored? Let anyone who said he or she is sponsoring us come out and say it. It is the love for the region that makes us establish this forum in 2018 in order to address the economic and security challenges of the region since we are of the ruling party. We have been the ones spending our money, and largely supported by myself, over the years. Check out our educational policy, where scholarships were given to hundreds of orphans whose parents were killed as a result of the crises/insecurity in the region. And thankfully, too, the Tribune has a strong base and presence in the region and would have at one time or another reported our activities. All these and more can be accessed online by Googling us or through any search engine. In fact, it is the love for our selfless regional activities and engagement that has buoyed the love and support for the forum. And just to mention a few, we have pushed for the presidency position and vice-presidency position for the region, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, North-Central Development Commission, among others. We have even gone beyond our region to canvass for any good leader who will do things for the interest of our region. In this respect, therefore, when President Tinubu indicated interest in the presidency, we supported him wholly, having considered his antecedents and achievements as Lagos State governor then, as well as his solid contribution to the development of our great party, the APC. And our support for the president has been before, during, the 2023 elections and it continues till date. I can therefore proudly tell the whole world that we are actually operating over the years for the interest of the region, and not those who have been hurriedly manipulated and bribed to come out now to be speaking or betraying the region due to the upcoming APC NEC meeting and subsequent congress.
Are you aware that the Ganduje you want to unseat, it is being said, has secured the backing of President Tinubu and the Progressives Governor’s Forum?
I don’t think so and I wouldn’t believe so. The President Tinubu we all know believes in justice, equity, and fairness, as well as in zoning arrangements, which is what brought him to power. So, we believe and trust that the president knows and will do that which is right because he is a father to all and a man of proper focus who will want to do the correct thing at all times. And that is why we are truly backing him in all his endeavours. And as for the progressive governors you are talking about, we all know that no governor from the North-Central region is backing Ganduje to continue occupying the seat, which is understandably for the region. That is why we are thanking them for not supporting Governor Sule in his clandestine move to endorse Ganduje.
Do you subscribe to the notion that the call for Ganduje to continue is a result of his contribution to the success of the party in the 2023 polls?
How did Ganduje contribute to the success of the party in the 2023 elections? How? We all played our individual and collective roles in the success of the party, which cannot be attributed to any particular person. Come to talk of Ganduje, we are not supposed to talk to him in any way. All we are fighting for is what rightfully should belong to the North-Central. But we all know that Ganduje, as a former governor, could not deliver his state for the APC. So with that alone, it is clear that his contribution to the success of the party in 2023 is just some people holding on to illusion. It is needless for us to begin to mention the allegations against him. Besides, there are issues of rejection even from his ward in Kano State, apart from some of the legal liabilities being incurred for the party. And let me tell you this: there are so many misfortunes befalling the party already. In our quest to boost membership of our party and poach eminent personalities and strong forces from other parties, not only in the North-Central but in the northern region and the country at large, we understood that many people wanted to defect to the APC from other parties but were prevented from doing so due to the policy and leadership style of Ganduje. Some of them have confided in us outright that they will not be coming to the party under the leadership of Ganduje, who has no regard for them or any quality policy that will advance the party.
The political fortune of your party is at the moment dwindling due to the hardship in the country occasioned by some economic policies of the APC-led administration at the centre. Don’t you think this might have an adverse effect on the party in the long run?
This is an issue that has already been taken advantage of by many mischief-makers. We all know that the policies of the president are those that are futuristic, even if they are momentarily painful. But we all know how things are with people; they mostly look at the now and not the future. And to make it worse, some enemies of the administration are already using this to instigate the people against the government. But if we must connect this to what or how some Western world today developed, we can see that some of the economic policies then appeared to be harsh. But in the long run, it paid off for them and, today, they have been celebrated the world over and also patronised as leading economic champions. So I call on the people to be a little patient with the president, as this is a passing phase and a trying moment that will turn out for the best.
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