The North-Central All Progressives Congress, APC, Discussion board has requested Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, to instantly apologize for allegedly mobilizing thugs towards the social gathering’s Nationwide Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, in the course of the North-East stakeholders assembly in Gombe on Sunday.
Zulum reportedly led a protest, which disrupted the assembly, after Ganduje and APC Nationwide Vice Chairman (North-East), Comrade Mustapha Salihu, endorsed Tinubu for a second time period with out acknowledging Shettima.
Ganduje and Salihu needed to be escorted out of the venue underneath heavy safety as protests broke out on the assembly venue.
Reacting to the event in a press release issued by its Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, on Monday, the North-Central APC Discussion board faulted Zulum’s conduct, accusing him of mobilizing thugs towards the the APC nationwide chairman.
The Discussion board additionally defended Ganduje’s motion, noting that it is just the President that may nominate the Vice President, who’s his working mate within the presidential election.
The assertion stated, “It’s the prerogative of the President to appoint his Vice President. No person goes to pressure President Bola Tinubu to decide on who must be his Vice President; it’s left for him to appoint whoever he feels he can work with.
“We’re condemning the motion of Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, for mobilizing thugs to assault the Nationwide Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje. Ganduje is harmless, he was discharging his constitutionally required duties as social gathering nationwide chairman.
“It’s not the nationwide chairman’s duty to appoint a Vice President. It is usually not his duty to endorse anybody for Vice President. As a celebration official, he’s meant to be impartial and he displayed his neutrality on the North-East stakeholders assembly.
“We, the North-Central APC Discussion board, are asking the Governor of Borno State to apologize for mobilizing thugs towards the Nationwide Chairman. Governor Babagana Zulum ought to apologize to Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, instantly.
“As stakeholders who’re dedicated to the progress and improvement of the social gathering, we aren’t pleased with the conduct of the governor of Borno State.”
Additional condemning Zulum’s motion, the Discussion board famous that the Borno governor, and the North-East, haven’t any purpose to really feel entitled to any privileges within the APC as a result of the area didn’t ship the anticipated outcomes for Tinubu and the social gathering within the 2023 election.
In keeping with the assertion, the North-Central, which gave the APC and President Tinubu extra votes within the final election, must be the one demanding particular privileges, reasonably than the North-East.
“It’s on file that the opposition gained within the North-East in 2023 despite the fact that the Vice President is from the zone. The North-Central gave the APC and Tinubu the third highest variety of votes – behind the North-West and the South-West.
“So if any zone ought to really feel entitled to particular concerns, positively it isn’t the North-East, which makes Governor Babagana Zulum’s motion much more unlucky,” the assertion added.
A breakdown of the outcomes from the 2023 presidential election exhibits that the South-West gave Tinubu the best variety of votes. The President obtained 2,542, 979 votes within the South-West, which is 58.4 % of votes forged within the area.
Peoples Democratic Occasion (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar obtained 951,941 votes (22.6%) within the zone, whereas Peter Obi of the Labour Occasion (LP) obtained 849,423 votes (19.5%).
Within the North-West, Tinubu obtained 2,652,235 votes (41.0%), Atiku garnered 2,197,824 votes (33.9%) and Kwankwaso obtained 1,268,250 votes (19.6%).
Within the North-Central, Tinubu obtained 1,760,993 votes, (41.3%), Obi obtained 1,415,557 votes (33.2%) whereas Atiku obtained 1,025,178 votes (24.1%).
Nevertheless, within the North-East, Atiku obtained the best variety of votes 1,741,846 (55.9%), whereas Tinubu got here a distant second with 933,176 votes (29.9%).
In Borno State – Zulum and Shettima’s state – APC obtained 252,282 votes whereas PDP completed a detailed second with 190,921.
The North-Central APC Discussion board, additional commenting on the supposed non- endorsement of the Vice President by Ganduje, noticed that Shettima’s emergence as Tinubu’s working mate in 2023 was based mostly on political calculations which can now not be viable for the following election.
The Discussion board particularly famous that the Muslim-Muslim APC ticket was adopted as a method to win the 2023 election.
“It’s potential {that a} Muslim-Muslim ticket will now not be the best choice in 2027, when President Bola Tinubu will stand for reelection. Additionally, social gathering leaders may even have a look at the place bigger variety of votes are prone to come from. All these points are to be thought of based mostly on the social gathering’s curiosity, not in accordance with the egocentric curiosity of people.
“Mr. President is aware of what’s finest for the social gathering and we hereby align with no matter determination he takes when the time comes. We additionally anticipate all social gathering members, regardless of their private pursuits or extremely positioned they’re, to align with the President’s determination,” the assertion stated.
Additional reacting to the protests that trailed the Gombe North-East stakeholders assembly, the Discussion board dismissed speculations that the event is the start of a disaster within the APC.
“What occurred in Gombe on the North-East stakeholders assembly is an remoted incident which won’t have an effect on the state of affairs in our nice social gathering. The APC, as a celebration of progressives, is a robust establishment and won’t derail underneath the succesful management of President Bola Tinubu and the Nationwide Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje.
“We urge all social gathering trustworthy to stay calm and deal with the duty forward, which is to actualize a convincing victory within the 2027 election and the off-cycle polls. We’re assured that the social gathering will stay robust and united,” the assertion additional stated.
The Discussion board, in the identical vein, restated its endorsement of President Tinubu as the only real candidate of the APC for the 2027 election. It equally restated the vote of confidence handed on Ganduje because the Nationwide Chairman of the social gathering.
The assertion added, “With President Bola Tinubu and Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje within the saddle, the APC is in protected palms and we urge all members to eschew all acts able to inflicting confusion and distracting Mr. President and the nationwide chairman from the wonderful work they’re doing within the social gathering and the nation at massive.”
The Discussion board, in the identical vein, restated its pledge to ship six million votes for Tinubu from the North-Central in 2027.
