Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress in the North Central on Sunday backed the suspension of the National Chairman of the party, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, and demanded that the seat that Abdullahi Adamu previously occupied be returned to their zone.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, the APC stalwarts lamented that the alleged imposition of Ganduje on the party was “insensitive and a clear violation of the zoning process” in the party.
Their agitation comes in the wake of fresh suspension slammed on the embattled national chairman by a faction of the Ganduje Ward in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State.
The PUNCH on Monday reported how the ward’s Legal Adviser, Haladu Gwanjo, led some party leaders to pronounce the former Kano governor’s suspension.
Gwanjo, who hinged the purported suspension on the alleged bribery case brought against Ganduje and his wife, said the decision was taken by nine executive members of the APC ward.
The move was quickly followed up with a Kano High Court order on Wednesday restraining Ganduje from parading himself as the APC national chairman.
Despite spirited efforts to abort the move by Kano APC, which immediately suspended the ward executives for their roles, the new court injunction proved to be a stumbling block.
The court order was however put on hold when Ganduje secured another Federal High Court injunction presided over by Justice A.M Liman.
The ruling was given after he filed an ex parte motion seeking to enforce his fundamental right to a fair hearing.
But in the early hours of Sunday, the faction, which claimed to be the legitimate executives, affirmed that the embattled chairman remained suspended.
Reacting in Abuja, the Coordinator of Concerned North Central APC Stakeholders, Muhammad Etsu, said they supported the suspension.
Etsu argued that it was wrong for the party to replace the immediate past national chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, who is from their region with the Ganduje, a politician of North West extraction.
The politician therefore appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the National Executive Committee of the APC to remedy the situation by upholding Ganduje’s suspension while efforts are made to return the seat to their zone.
He said, “We call on all party leaders and stakeholders to support the North Central aspiration. This would strengthen the party, unite all interests, and pave the way for a formidable APC that will consolidate its position across the board. Significantly, we also call on people of conscience to prevail on the ruling party to obey the order of the High Court of Kano state restraining and prohibiting Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje from presiding over the affairs of APC pending the hearing and determination of the interlocutory injunction.
“This is to avoid sending the wrong signal to Nigerians that the party is anarchic, lawless, and deviates from its Constitution. That is why we are calling on the President, and the NEC of our party to immediately swing into action by repositioning the APC and ensuring an inclusive remake of the NWC where the North Central Zone regains the position of the National Chairman of the party which it lost after the resignation of erstwhile Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu.”
An APC chieftain from Adamawa, Sunny Moniedafe, also threw his weight behind the agitation of the North Central stakeholders, saying it was the right thing to do.
Moniedafe told our correspondent after the press conference that the fact that zoning is being violated in some major opposition parties does not mean the ruling party can’t be different.
He said, “This position belongs to the North Central. It was zoned to them and one will expect to retain the seat after Abdullahi Adamu left the party.”
When reminded that the matter might resort to contempt of court since Ganduje has secured an interim court order, calling for status quo on all sides, Sylvester disagreed.
“No, Ganduje secured the injunction from a court of concurrent jurisdiction instead of going to the very court where the first exparte order was given. It was wrong. The court said he should restrain from parading himself as the national chairman. He should comply.
“In other words, what we are saying is ‘give this seat back to the North Central’ where it belongs. That is the agreement. The zone itself comprises a number of states. I am not from North Central. But as a concerned party stakeholder from Adamawa State in the North East, I feel the right thing should be done.
“The same thing happened when Iyorchia Ayu of the PDP was removed, his zone demanded for his seat. We all know what follows. But we are saying the APC should do things right. We should not be like them,” he stated.
But Ganduje’s Senior Special Assistant Assistant on Public Enlightenment, Chief Oliver Okpala, thinks otherwise.
According to him, those fuelling the crisis in the party are obviously in dire need of psychiatric evaluation.
He said, “The Federal Government needs to start quarantining some psychiatric cases from infiltrating the political space of the country. Their main aim is to cause distraction and crisis thereby derailing a return to civilian rule and the practice of democratic process in the country.
“Secondly, under judicial practice, these people are supposed to be committed to prison custody for contempt of court. Remember there is a definite order from a Federal High Court that status quo should be maintained by all and sundry in favour of Ganduje and in furtherance of his fundamental human rights.”
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