The National Vice Chairman for North-West, Salihu Lukman has written a letter to the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), voicing his concern over the rumoured selection of Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, the former Kano Governor, to replace Senator Abdullahi Adamu as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In the letter dated July 21, Lukman warns that such an endorsement could be unfavourable to both President Bola Tinubu and Ganduje himself.
The letter, titled ‘APC National Chairman: PGF should serve as the Conscience of APC,’ was also sent to President Tinubu, members of the APC National Working Committee, and Ganduje.
Lukman, a political figure from Kaduna, expressed his disturbance at the possibility that the APC governors, under the leadership of Imo State Governor, Hope Uzondimma, could be considering adopting Ganduje as the party’s next leader.
He said, “While it is within the right of Progressive Governors being a very critical power bloc within the APC to endorse any candidate for the position of National Chairman, to make such decision public in whatever manner is unfair to both President Bola Tinubu and other leaders of the party who are not members of PGF. It is even unfair to Dr. Ganduje who is being endorsed.
“I have served PGF between August 2013 and February 2022 as Director General. I am fully conversant with the conventional approach toward managing consultations between PGF and the party.
“Whenever PGF is privileged to reach an agreement with the President, being the party leader, on matters affecting the party, PGF takes necessary steps to first meet with the NWC or at the least the National Chairman. Where such decisions require pronouncement by organs of the party, PGF uses its influence within the party to negotiate the buy-in of members of the relevant organs. That has been the tradition.”
Lukman criticized the move as reminiscent of the same disregard for party procedures and underestimation of party organs that Senator Abdullahi Adamu and former National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, were accused of.
The APC leader has called upon the party’s governors to uphold their traditional role as the party’s conscience. He urged them to abide by the party’s zoning arrangement, rather than moving the APC chairman’s position out of North-Central.
He said, “Given the implication of such endorsement in terms of being unjust and unfair to the North Central region and given that the position of the National Chairman is zoned to North Central based on which zoning for leadership of National Assembly was decided, it simply suggests that the PGF has deviated from its traditional role of acting as the conscience of the party.
“If PGF is to act as the conscience of the party, even if assuming as it is being promoted in the public that the endorsement is coming from President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the PGF I know would have taken every step to convince the President otherwise and if the President insisted, they would have shielded the President by owning the decision. But to handle the endorsement in the way it appears in the public is unfair to President Asiwaju Tinubu and unfair to Dr. Ganduje who is being alleged to have put so much pressure on the President, which is not true.
“I want to strongly appeal to Your Excellency, as the PGF Chairman to kindly return PGF to its conventional role of acting as the conscience of the party by ensuring that the party always takes the right decisions, which will protect the interest of every member, every region and all interest. The PGF under Your Excellency’s leadership must not be seen to be promoting or condoning decisions that are liable to acts of injustice and unfairness to any member, section of the country, or interest.”
