Against agitation on the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) seat occupied by Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, some elders of North Central on Monday threw their weights behind the APC National Chairman.
Their support came a few hours after Ganduje won a case in court instituted by some members of the North Central asking for his removal.
Since his appointment last year by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, some stakeholders from North Central have been agitating for his removal on the grounds that the position of APC National Chairman was zone to them.
To effect his removal, the stakeholders had gone to court while they were also planning to remove him at the postponed NEC meeting scheduled for September 12. However, the Court ruled in favour of Ganduje on Monday.
Showing solidarity, some elders of the North Central paid a courtesy call on Ganduje at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja, where they congratulated him on his victory at the Edo State governorship election and his victory in court.
According to them, it was a double victory for the APC National Chairman, which also had a positive impact on 2027.
Led by a former President of the Senate, Senator Ameh Ebute, the group commended the doggedness and leadership qualities of the APC chairman and wished him to continue in office even after 2027 despite calls by some politicians from the zone who wanted the party leadership to be produced from the North Central.
The leader of the delegation said: “We have come to congratulate you on your winning the gubernatorial election in Edo State on Saturday. We want to thank you for all the great successes. What happened has added a dosage to your credit for the state being controlled by your party.
“The success can be traced to your personal abilities because you have said earlier, even before the election took place, that you are going to take a dosage and add it to the state controlled by the APC.
“We have no doubt in your ability to lead this party to a higher level. The second success that we recognize
is your winning the suit that was filed against you before the Federal High Court for your removal as the national chairman. We are happy that the suit was dismissed and that is the second success that we recognize within 24 hours.
“This is unbelievable. So, the North Central elders have come to congratulate you on these great achievements within 24 hours. We make an undertaking that we are constantly behind you and we will continue to support you and the administration for taking our party APC to the next level.
“But know that with this type of step that we have taken, the 2027 election is not going to be rough but a workover for all our candidates between now and November.
Responding, Dr. Ganduje thanked the August visitors led by the former President of the Senate.
“We thank you for being the first batch to come forward in order to congratulate Mr. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, congratulate the party, congratulate all members of our party, the APC, and our delegation and Nigerians.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President is working. It is not complete, but it is working, and it will continue to work. We know the times are hard, but it is as a result of those reforms, which to do them is absolutely necessary in order to realize our objective of saving the economy from collapsing.
“We assure you that our party as an institution, will continue to work hard. We will continue to work hard. Our primary responsibility is to get more entrants into the party, to recruit more membership into the party, and also for us to get more states into our fold.
“So, the election of Saturday is a testimony that the efforts are giving fruits. There is no doubt, that fighting an incumbent government is not easy
But at the same time, those who are ready for war are really the warriors,” Ganduje said.
