The North Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum said no to the removal of Benue State leaders from the party by National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, on Saturday.
The Forum thinks this decision is wrong. They believe Ganduje does not have a good reason to remove the Benue leaders. The North Central region has not supported Ganduje as chairman, so he should not be making such decisions.
Alhaji Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, the Chairman of the Forum, talked to reporters in Jos, Plateau State.
Zazzaga, who helped in the last presidential campaign, said, “The Benue leaders that Ganduje wants to remove are the same people we worked with to win the Benue State governorship and other important positions for the APC.”
He added, “From the start, the North Central APC did not want Ganduje as national chairman because the role should go to someone from our region after Abdullahi Adamu resigned. Ganduje is from the North West state of Kano.”
Zazzaga pointed out that a High Court in Makurdi, Benue State, told Ganduje on Wednesday not to remove the state leaders led by Augustine Agada. But on that same day, Ganduje’s team still announced the removal of the state leaders, ignoring the court order.
Accusing Ganduje of breaking the law, Zazzaga said, “Ganduje often ignores court orders, which brings legal problems for our party. This includes issues from his time as Kano State Governor and other matters in his ward in Kano State, and with the North Central APC.”
He said the North Central APC will not agree to the removal of the Benue leaders. If the decision is not changed, people from the region will take more actions.
Zazzaga warned that Ganduje is damaging the APC and said if nothing is done, he could destroy the party soon.
He reminded everyone that the North Central region has helped the APC succeed since 2015, including President Bola Tinubu’s win in the 2023 election.
Zazzaga also noted that the APC won five out of the six governorship elections in the region.