Ganduje: Creation of the President-elect of the APC

• His leadership will help Tinubu restoration program, says North-Central Coalition• He has what it takes to restructure the party - Garba

As the intrigue generated by the scramble for who emerges the new All Progressives Congress (APC) president intensifies, the party's Center-North Leaders Coalition on Thursday threw its weight behind the former governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, to replace the former National President, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.

Speaking to reporters in Abuja, the head of the coalition, Okpokwu Ogenyi, said that although the current zoning formula cedes the office to their zone, the North Central APC leaders have agreed to give up the post of national president in favor of Ganduje.< /p>

The development came just two days after APC presidents in seven North West states also endorsed the 73-year-old at a meeting held in Kaduna.

However, a former Governor of Satte and Senator of Nasarawa South, Tanko Al-Makura, Ameh Ebute, the sixth Speaker of the Nigerian Senate during the Third Republic, and former Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, all hail from north-central, are suspected of targeting the office of the national president of the APC, the alleged endorsement of Ganduje as the preferred choice of President Bola Tinubu and the governors of the APC has since sparked controversy and mixed feelings among the higher echelons and other party loyalists. While a few chiefs believe that the next national president should emerge from Nasarawa State in accordance with the party's zoning arrangement, many supported Ganduje's choice.

Opposition to Ganduje had come from the most unlikely quarters of Dr Salihu Lukman, who questioned why the main power blocs within the party, including members of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) led by Governor Hope Uzodinma, have gone out of their way to endorse Ganduje for the zoned seat in the north-central geopolitical zone of the country.

Lukman argued that there were legal and moral issues over the development, urging President Tinubu to distance himself from the alleged commission of the offense in regards to installing Ganduje as national president.

Lukman argued that the decision to appoint Ganduje was in violation of Article 31.5(i) of the APC constitution dealing with what to do after the resignation of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as president national.

He argued that based on the provisions of the APC constitution, the Nasarawa State Executive Committee of the party, where Senator Adamu comes from, should have the right to propose a replacement, which should be approved by the State Congress and the Zonal Executive Committee. After which the name will be forwarded to the NWC for further transmission to the NEC and approval.

He stressed that no section of the APC constitution gives anyone, including President Asiwaju Tinubu, the authority to act otherwise.

Lukman added: "Connected to this is the fact that negotiations for the leadership of the National Assembly ceded the position of national chairman of the party to North Central. For whatever reason, acting arbitrarily and moving the post of National President to the North West will be unfair and unfair.

"This is simply taking the people of North Central for granted. Imagine if the South West, where President Asiwaju Tinubu is from, were to be treated like this by any Nigerian leader. The Moral Question related is why the choice of Dr. Ganduje."

Lukman resigned as National Vice President, North West, after realizing that all seven party presidents in his zone, including Isa Acida of Sokoto, Tukur Danfulani (Zamfara), Abubakar Kana ( Kebbi), Abubakar Gumel (Jigawa), Muhammed Ali (Katsina), Abdullahi Abbas (Kano) and Emmanuel Jekada (Kaduna) disagreed with him on the matter.