North Central APC elders back Ganduje

…. say Edo victory sign party will win in 2027

By Jude Opara, Abuja

The forum of North Central elders have declared support and confidence in the leadership of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje and promised to support President Bola Tinubu for a second term in 2027.
The elders made the declaration at the APC National Secretariat on Monday during a solidarity visit to Ganduje over the victory in Edo as well as the court verdict which dismissed the suit seeking to remove Ganduje from office as National Chairman.
The group led by a former President of the Senate, Senator (Chief) Ameh Ebute, commended the doggedness and leadership qualities of Ganduje and wished him to continue in office even after 2027 despite calls by some politicians from the zone who wanted the party leadership to be produced from the North Central.
Sen Ebute said: “We have come to congratulate you on your winning the gubernatorial election in Edo State yesterday. We want to thank you for all the great successes. What happened has added a dosage to your credit for the state being controlled by your party. The success can be traced to your personal abilities because you have said it earlier, even before the election took place, that you are going to take a dosage and add it to the state controlled by the NPC.
“We have no doubt in your ability to lead this party to a higher level. The second success that we recognize is your winning the suit that was filed against you before the Federal High Court for your removal as the national chairman. We are happy that the suit was dismissed and that is the second success that we recognize within 24 hours.
“This is unbelievable. So, the north central elders have come to congratulate you on these great achievements within 24 hours. We make an undertaking that we are constantly behind you and we will continue to support you and the administration for taking our party APC to the next level.
“But know that with this type of step that we have taken, the 2017 election is not going to be rough but a work over for all our candidates between now and November”.
Responding, Dr. Ganduje thanked the group for their support with a firm promise that the party will continue to work for the development of the country.
“We thank you for being the first batch to come forward in order to congratulate Mr. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, congratulate the party, congratulate all members of our party, the APC, and our delegation and Nigerians.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President is working. It is not complete, but it is working, and it will continue to work. We know the times are hard, but it is as a result of those reforms, which to do them is absolutely necessary in order to realize our objective of saving the economy from collapsing.
“We assure you that our party as an institution, will continue to work hard. We will continue to work hard. Our primary responsibility is to get more entrants into the party, to recruit more membership into the party, and also for us to get more states into our fold.
“So, the election of Saturday is a testimony that the efforts are giving fruits. There is no doubt fighting an incumbent government is not easy. But at the same time, those who are ready for war are really the warriors,” Ganduje concluded.