No plan to remove Ganduje, says APC

The move to remove the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, from office heightened again the last week following speculations that President Bola Tinubu may be considering an ambassadorial position for him to leave the country over his lingering corruption trial.

What started as a mere rumour soon gained momentum on social media and online publications, with many quoting some undisclosed persons in the ruling APC and Presidency as their sources.

 But some political observers believed the story might have been planted by some party stalwarts from the North-Central, who had been agitating for the leadership seat to return to their zone following the exit of Ganduje’s predecessor, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.

Recall that suspected thugs attacked and dispersed some members of the North-Central APC protesting in front of the party three months ago.

The demonstrators had stormed the party secretariat, chanting solidarity songs and displaying banners that read ‘Return APC National Chairmanship to North-Central’ and ‘Dr Ganduje, kindly resign to face your prosecution in Kano.’

In the wake of the protest, a former APC chairmanship aspirant from the same region, Muhammad Etsu, filed a legal injunction to stop Ganduje from parading himself as national chairman.

According to him, the seat of the party leadership should be allowed to remain in the North-Central instead of the North-West the NEC zoned it.

However, the Deputy National Organising Secretary of the party, Nze Chidi Duru, described the speculation as ridiculous.

Duru, who spoke to Sunday PUNCH in a interview said, a change of guard or the arbitrary removal of party leadership could cause instability and upset the apple cart.

He said, “It will be one change of guard too many. There must be stability, even in the administration of party hierarchy. That is a wishful thinking.

“I don’t know if that is how a party should be run. You cannot run the party on instability or unstable structure. It won’t augur well for any party.

“The chairmanship of the party had been zoned to the North-West. That decision was taken at the level of the NEC with all the components and organs of the party in attendance.

“If anybody feels otherwise, as I always maintain because we are a law-abiding institution, he is free to go to court.”

When approached for clarification, the APC Deputy National Secretary, Festus Fuanter, shied away from talking about it.