Anxiety in APC as Ganduje resigns

By Jude Opara

The National Secretariat of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was in a rude shock early yesterday afternoon when the news of the resignation of the National Chairman of the party, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from his position broke.

According to Party sources, Ganduje, in his resignation letter to the National Working Committee (NWC), gave health related issues as reason for his sudden resignation.

However, Ganduje who until his resignation held sway at the party was said to have been directed by yet to be disclosed authorities to throw in the towel in the early hours of Friday.

It was gathered that the drama began to unfold when a strange unmarked Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) which was never sighted in the convoy of the National Chairman suddenly appeared and started carting away the personal effects of Ganduje and those of his support staff including the Chief of Staff, Mohammed Garba.

Also, the mood at the party secretariat could easily tell the story as the staff were seen in different clusters discussing the development which apparently took everyone by surprise.

But, one member of the National Working Committee (NWC), who spoke on  condition of anonymity, revealed that he was also surprised by the sudden turn of events.

He further disclosed that as soon as he got the information, he quickly put a call to the governor of his state, who equally told him that the governors were not consulted before by whoever gave the directive to the National Chairman to resign.

Meanwhile, feelers from the party office at Blantyre street Wuse, Abuja said the resignation did not come as a surprise to most of the keen followers of events in the APC, especially in recent times.

Furthermore, one of the key factors being peddled by the commentators includes the fallout from the National Summit of the APC, where major stakeholders of the party openly endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term, while keeping mum on the fate of the Vice President, Kashim Shettima.

It’s no longer a secret that the outcome of that National Summit did not go down well with stakeholders of the party and supporters of Shettima who disrupted a North East Zonal meeting of the party in Gombe.

The irate members were seen attempting to physically attack Ganduje after he  appeared to have again urged the party faithful to support Tinubu for the 2027 election, without mentioning the name of the Vice President who also hails from the region.

It could also be recalled that some stakeholders of the party in the North Central had kicked against the emergence of Ganduje who hails from the North West following the exit of the former National Chairman, Abdulahi Adamu.

Earlier in his administration, Ganduje faced his first close shave after some members of the party in his Dawakin Today Ward in Kano state said they had sacked him as a member of the party. It took the intervention of the Federal High Court to quash that move.

Another reason adduced was the handling of the recent primary election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where many stakeholders accused the NWC of deliberately handing over almost all the party structures at the grassroots to those who recently decamped to the party from the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

For a senior staff of the party, who did not want to be quoted told newsmen that the NWC members were inadvertently handing the structures of the party to the PDP defectors because they want to placate certain interests ahead of the FCT Council elections.

“We have been in this party for a very long time, this is the very first time we are seeing the NWC getting involved in a small election like the Council elections.

“Again, they have handed over the structures of the party to the people that just came in from the PDP, as if there are no people in the APC before they came in.

“Recall that two weeks ago, some stakeholders protested and challenged the leadership of the party not to hand over our party to the PDP, just because someone wants Philip Aduda to return as a senator, that is unfair and unacceptable”, the staff stated.

Also, there is another school of thought that suggests that the President may have decided to ease Ganduje out to pave way for former Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr. Rabiu Kwankwasia to join the APC ahead of the 2027 election.

According to the Constitution of the APC, the National Deputy Chairman (North), Alhaji Buka Abba Dalori is expected to take charge of the affairs of the party pending the next National Convention of the party in December.