Dozens of protesters stormed the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja on Thursday, demanding the resignation of the national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje.
The protesters, holding placards with inscriptions like “Ganduje must resign” and “Return the APC chairmanship to North Central,” voiced their grievances over Ganduje’s recent suspension by a faction of his ward executives and bribery allegations leveled against him by the Kano State government.
Speaking to journalists, the demonstrators, under the banner of Concerned North Central APC Stakeholders, expressed their dissatisfaction with Ganduje’s continued tenure, citing a violation of the party’s zoning process.
Mohammed Mahmud Saba, the leader of the protesters, emphasized the importance of adhering to the party’s constitution and respecting the decisions of the National Convention.
Saba highlighted the sense of betrayal felt by the people of the North Central region, stating, “We the North Central APC Concerned Stakeholders have resolved to unanimously agitate for our right and reclaim our mandate which was handed unto us by the National Convention of our great Party in 2022. Various sections of our constitution have established the procedure of replacing an executive member at all levels of the party in the event of death, resignation, incapacitation or expulsion from the party by any executive member,” he said.
“It is a fact that the emergence of Dr. Umar Ganduje as national chairman was done against the spirit and soul of the APC which is the constitution of our great party. This singular act has impacted negatively on us as a people in the North Central. We feel betrayed and spited because we gave His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the third highest votes after North West and South West in the country which put us in a better position to enjoy the fruit of our labour.
“We, therefore, demand that Dr Umar Ganduje resign immediately and stop parading himself as the National Chairman of our great party; the zoning arrangements made by the National Convention in 2022, which zoned the office of the national chairman to the North Central be respected by the NEC and all other organs of the party and that all governors elected on the platform of the APC in the North Central should wake up from their slumber and mobilize their members against this impunity until Ganduje resigns as the national chairman.”