The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and other prominent northern figures have rejected a call by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, for the North to wait until 2031 before contesting the presidency.

The northern leaders asserted that the region cannot be coerced into re-electing President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

Ganduje had made the remarks while receiving a delegation from the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Media Centre and the Tinubu Northern Youth Forum at the APC national secretariat in Abuja.

He argued that since a northern president—Muhammadu Buhari—had completed two terms, fairness dictated that Tinubu should also serve for eight years.

However, the ACF and other political figures from the North rejected this stance.

Speaking to journalists, the National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Prof. Tukur Muhammad-Baba, dismissed Ganduje’s statement as a reflection of the presidency’s “cult-like” nature, where total allegiance is expected.

He stressed that voters cannot be influenced by force.

“He or she or party members cannot influence voters by force. So, what he said was an opinion, and it’s up to the voters to endorse, reject, or modify it. In 2015, we were sold a dummy of anti-corruption. We were sold a dummy of many things, and people have realized that it wasn’t true. Then, of course, the Renewed Hope came in 2023, and the hope is turning into a nightmare,” Muhammad-Baba stated.

Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, also cast doubt on Tinubu’s chances, sharing a post on his verified X handle titled “2027: South West, Tinubu’s supporters playing with fire – Part 1.”

The post suggested that Tinubu’s relationship with the North had significantly deteriorated less than two years into his tenure, warning that he could suffer a fate similar to former President Goodluck Jonathan, who lost re-election in 2015

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Caucus in the Delta House of Assembly, on Wednesday said that none of the assembly members was warming up to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Majority Leader of the House, Mr Emeka Nwaobi said this in Asaba, while reacting to the allegation that 10 out of the 22 members of the assembly were planning on joining the APC.

Nwaobi said that all the 22 PDP members in the House were irrevocably committed to the thrust of the party, and their loyalty to the PDP unquestionable.

He, however, disclosed that five out of the seven APC members in the assembly were already indicating interest to join the PDP, adding that their defection plan was already in the pipeline.

Similarly, the Speaker, Mr Dennis Guwor, advised residents of the state, particularly PDP faithful, to discountenance such allegation.

According to him, members of the party are solidly loyal to the party’s idea in the House.

”There is no doubt that the 22 members of the PDP in the state house of assembly are intact. There is no indication anywhere that any member of the party is planning to join any other party.

“Rather, there is strong indication that no fewer than five out of the seven members of the APC in the House are already warming up to join the PDP.

“So let me use this forum to inform them that the umbrella is wide enough to accommodate as many that are interested in joining us,” he said.

The North-Central All Progressives Congress, APC, Forum has passed a vote of confidence on the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

Rising from a stakeholders meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, the Forum declared: “The APC leadership under Dr Abdullahi Ganduje has been winning elections, including recent governorship elections in Ondo and Edo states, and also receiving decampees from other political parties on a daily basis, showing that party has become stronger.

“No team will want to change a coach who has been recording victories and winning trophies.”

The APC Forum further declared that, going by his track record, Ganduje is the right person to lead the party in the 2027 general election.

This is coming about five months after the APC Forum suspended its agitation for Ganduje’s removal and his replacement with somebody from the North-Central, in line with the party’s zoning arrangement which ceded the position of national chairman to the region.

Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State, emerged APC National Chairman at the party’s national convention in March 2022, following the ceding of the position to the North-Central.

Adamu resigned from the position in July 2023 without completing his tenure, and Ganduje, a former governor of Kano State in the North-West, was appointed as his replacement.

Insisting that the North-Central must complete Adamu’s tenure, the Forum demanded Ganduje’s removal, and through its leader, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, filed a lawsuit asking a federal high court to sack the national chairman. The suit was, however, unsuccessful as it was dismissed by the court.

Eventually, on October 16, 2024, the North-Central APC Forum announced the suspension of its demand for Ganduje’s removal.

“Our activism is based on our feelings that the national chairman should have been retained in the North-Central zone after the exit of Senator Abdullahi Adamu,” the APC Forum said while announcing the suspension of the demand, adding that it does not have personal issues against Ganduje as a person.

Ganduje’s recent appointment as Chairman of the Board of the federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, had sparked speculations about his removal as APC national chairman but he has now received the backing of the North-Central stakeholders to continue in the position.

In the statement released on Wednesday by its leader, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, a member of the APC presidential campaign council in the 2023 election, the North-Central APC Forum also said the party’s leadership under Ganduje has been accommodating the interests of the zone.

“Following consultations with leaders of the North-Central and other stakeholders, and after an appraisal of issues concerning the zone, the North-Central APC Forum has given a passmark on the national chairman Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje and we are asking President Bola Tinubu that he should be allowed to continue to lead the party.

“Our position is further informed by the realization that the North-Central has gotten favourable results in about 80 percent of the demands and agitations presented by the zone. We understand that we can’t get 100 percent of all we demand or agitate for in a political party and we don’t want to be seen as ungrateful people.

“We had long agitated and demanded the the North-Central must produce the national chairman of the APC but having suspended the agitation in the interest of the peace and progress of the party, we also understand that the North-Central cannot have the SGF and APC national chairman at the same time,” parts of the statement read.

The APC Forum added that the Tinubu administration had given key ministerial appointments to the North-Central, a development which they said would not have been possible without the support of the Ganduje-led party leadership.

The statement identified key ministries headed by ministers from the North-Central to include: Ministry of Justice, headed by the Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, from Kwara; Ministry of Information and National Orientation, headed by Mohammed Idris from Niger State; Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, headed by Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda from Plateau; Ministry of Women Affairs, headed by Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim from Nasarawa; Ministry of Special Duties, Intergovernmental Affairs, headed by Zephaniah Bitrus Jisalo, from the Federal Capital Territory, and Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, headed by Prof Joseph Utsev from Benue.

The statement added, “These are in addition to the high profile position of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, given to the North-Central, with Senator George Akume of Benue State holding the office.

“We also appreciate the role of the APC leadership under Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje in the creation of the North-Central Development Commission, which Mr President recently signed into law following the passage of the bill by the National Assembly, which comprise a majority of APC members.

“The North-Central APC Forum seriously agitated for the speedy establishment of the Commission and we are grateful to Mr President and the national leadership of the party for listening to our cry for justice when the zone was initially left out of the commissions captured under the Ministry of Regional Development.

“We want Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje to continue his good job as national chairman, and also continue supporting the aspirations of the North-Central.”

The statement further observed that following agitation by North-Central stakeholders, critical infrastructural projects have been located in the region, with federal roads such as the Suleja-Minna-Bida road, Akwanga-Keffi-Plateau-Gombe and highway currently receiving attention.

However, the North-Central stakeholders urged Ganduje to carry elders of the region along.

“We also appreciate the North-Central Governors Forum chairman, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State for carrying the entire zone along, thereby strengthening the APC in the zone,” the statement added.

To underscore their gratitude to President Bola Tinubu, the APC North-Central Forum promised to deliver four million votes to the President in the 2027 election.