The North Central All Progressive Congress Forum has suspended its agitation for the removal of Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje as the National Chairman of the party on Wednesday, signaling an end to months of tension and legal battles.
For the past six months, Ganduje has faced multiple aborted efforts to remove him, especially from APC stakeholders in the North-Central region who were pushing for the return of the leadership position to their zone after the departure of his predecessor, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.
Notably, this conflict had escalated following an attack on demonstrators from the North-Central APC by suspected thugs four months ago.
The protesters, who had gathered in front of the party’s secretariat, were chanting solidarity songs and carrying banners that read “Return APC National Chairmanship to North-Central” and “Dr Ganduje, kindly resign to face your prosecution in Kano.”
In the aftermath of the protest, a former APC chairmanship aspirant from the North-Central region, Muhammad Etsu, and Saleh Zazzaga, a member of the Presidential Campaign Council during the 2023 election and Chairman of the North-Central APC Forum, took their efforts to court and the media. Etsu filed a legal injunction to prevent Ganduje from holding himself out as national chairman, while Zazzaga organized press conferences and led protests to advance their demands.
However, in a statement released in Abuja on Wednesday, Zazzaga announced that the forum had decided to pause its agitation. He clarified that their opposition was never personal, emphasizing that their primary concern was the equitable distribution of power and democratic dividends for the North-Central region.
Zazzaga explained, “Let it be on record that we do not have personal issues against the person of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje; he is our national chairman. Our activism is based on our feelings that the national chairman should have been retained in the North-Central zone after the exit of Senator Abdullahi Adamu.”
He further explained that their legal battle, which they had believed would succeed, ended in a court ruling against them. “We have come to an agreement that the NEC has all the powers to make decisions for our party, including the zoning and elections into vacant positions of our party. We understand that it was NEC that elected Ganduje. More importantly, is the fact that another NEC is by the corner where further decisions will be made to the advantage of the party as we prepare towards 2027 general elections.”
With this understanding, Zazzaga announced that the North Central APC Forum had reached a unanimous decision to suspend their agitation, pending further decisions by the party’s National Executive Committee.
“This is in line with our principle of fairness, equity and justice in order not to cause unnecessary disaffection among political leaders from the North Central zone and other leaders of our party,” he said.
Zazzaga further added that stepping down at this time would allow the North Central zone to be given a fair hearing at the NEC, where political leaders could negotiate specific benefits for the zone.
In response, Ganduje’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Enlightenment, Chief Oliver Okpala, described the move as a welcome development. Speaking in an exclusive interview, Okpala acknowledged that while the court had already declared the North Central APC Forum as an “illegal” entity, the party would still accept Zazzaga and his members if they genuinely sought reconciliation.
“The North Central APC Forum is an illegal organisation that has nothing to do with the party,” Okpala stated. “Besides, the court has earlier declared it as an illegal entity not known to law. Therefore, whether they withdraw their case or not, it is of no use or relevance to us.”
However, he welcomed their decision to halt the agitation, saying, “But if they are saying they have withdrawn from the agitation and now recognise Ganduje as the APC national chairman, that is a welcome development. It shows they now want to return to the path of political rectitude.”
Okpala further criticized the forum’s previous actions, describing them as “anti-party activities” that went against the APC’s principles of law and discipline. He reminded them that the party had an internal mechanism for resolving conflicts and had advised them to use it before resorting to legal action.
“You will recall that we advised them that the party has an internal mechanism of conflict resolution that they could have taken advantage of before bringing the case to court,” Okpala concluded.
