The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) has dismissed reports claiming that the party’s National Chairman, Adamu Abdullahi, is receiving medical treatment abroad.
OsunDaily News reports that some online blogs have claimed that Adamu had yet to return to the country after he was flown abroad over an undisclosed illness.
The platform also claimed that the APC National Deputy Chairman for the North, Senator Abubakar Kyari, was temporarily appointed to replace Adamu.
But the illness report has been swiftly debunked by the APC National Vice Chairman for the South East, Dr. Ijeoma Arodiogbu, and the party’s Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim.
Speaking to The PUNCH, Arodiogbu described the report as a figment of the imagination of those peddling the rumour.
He disclosed that the APC National Chairman went on a business trip to China, where he was expected to attend Umrah in Saudi Arabia.
“He wasn’t sick. He travelled out for business. The national chairman went to China. Of course, I was with him when he met with the Chinese ambassador before he travelled. He went to China, from where he left for Saudi Arabia for Hajj.
“As we speak, he is in London and may not return until next week. He is well and was not rushed abroad for treatment. It is also not true that the APC national chairman resigned,” Arodiogbu said.
He, however, stated that the emergence of Kyari as the acting national chairman was in tandem with the party’s constitution.
Arodiogbu said the APC’s constitution stipulates that once the incumbent chairman is indisposed or out of the country, power is automatically passed to the chairman in charge of his geographical zone.
Also speaking, Bala Ibrahim stated that the party’s National Chairman was not sick.
According to Ibrahim, Adamu Abdullahi went to China, probably for some business arrangement.
He said the decision to name Kyari as the acting national chair was backed up by the party’s Constitution.
Meanwhile, a source at the APC national secretariat told The PUNCH that Adamu might have gone on a mining prospect with some Chinese businessmen.
The source said, “You know he was into mining, and until he travelled, we have seen some Chinese paying him some visits some weeks before to discuss this mining thing.
“In fact, the journey ought to have been before now, probably a month earlier. But because that was in the heat of the presidential rallies and campaign, he couldn’t go.”
