2027: members of defunct ANPP give Tinubu conditions to remain in APC

By Jude Opara, Abuja

Former All Nigeria Peoples Party, (ANPP), bloc in the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC), has threatened President Bola Tinubu to exit the party unless he abides by certain conditions.

The ANPP bloc accused the party of marginalisation by both the Congress for Progressive Change, (CPC) bloc and the All Progressives Congress, (APC) bloc in the tripartite agreement that formed the national government in 2015.

The ANPP bloc, which said that the CPC bloc had ruled Nigeria for eight years with the APC currently in power, warned Tinubu against tampering with the vice presidential seat, insisting that the position “remains sacrosanct for the ANPP bloc as the second largest contributor to the formation of APC.”

Members of the bloc, operating under the aegis of the Association of Former ANPP Members, while speaking at a press conference in Abuja, on Monday, demanded inclusivity in the APC government.

The aggrieved ANPP member, whose prepared text was read by their National Coordinator, Prof Vitalis Orikeze Ajumbe, called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ”to ensure that the Vice Presidential seat is made sacrosanct for the ANPP block in the governing APC for the 2027 Presidential election as millions of the former ANPP members across the country who voted massively for the current.

“The ticket you are serving will be disappointed if you choose another person outside the ANPP block in APC as your vice President, “he added.

Ajumbe said their position was the outcome of the resolution of a meeting they held a few hours before the press conference.

“A few hours ago, we concluded the leadership meeting of the association of former ANPP members of the APC on behalf of millions of our members across the country where we reviewed issues concerning our membership of the All Peoples Congress, APC.

“We looked into our gains since we merged with the former ACN and CPC to form the APC. When our late national chairman, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu initiated this move to bring ACN, CPC and ANPP together to form a mega Party, our desire then was to form a mega Party that would, not only defeat PDP, but also to give Nigerians good governance. When APC was eventually formed, the interim leadership offices were equitably shared amongst the legacy Parties of ACN, ANPP and CPC plus some factions of PDP, APGA and DPP which joined the merger.

“In the unanimously adopted formula for the sharing of the Party positions, the interim National Chairman was allocated to ACN as it had six serving governors in six states, ANPP which had three governors in three states was allocated the position of interim National Secretary. The CPC, which had one governor, was allocated the position of National Treasurer. A faction of APGA which joined then, was allocated the position of the interim National Organizing Secretary, while the group from DPP, which had no state, was allocated the position of National Auditor.