- Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, a former governor of Kano State, has been named as the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman
- The former governor will be named interim national chairman of the ruling party until the party’s convention later this year
- Ganduje’s selection was finalized after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and three APC governors
Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, a former governor of Kano State, has been named as the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, Daily Trust reliably learned last night.
Ganduje, 73, was at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday, where he met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and three APC governors.
Barring any last-minute changes, the former governor will be named interim national chairman of the ruling party until the party’s convention later this year.
Remember that this paper was the first to report on Monday that Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the party’s national chairman, had resigned. On Sunday, Adamu tendered his resignation in response to a plot to depose him. Iyiola Omisore, the national secretary, has also resigned.
Ganduje will succeed Senator Abubakar Kyari, who was named acting national chairman on Monday. Kyari, who is from Borno State, is the party’s deputy national chairman (North).
On his way back from the African Union (AU) meeting in Kenya on Monday, President Tinubu was said to have expressed interest in making Ganduje the party’s chairman.
As a result, the chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma, was contacted to secure the support of his colleagues and other key stakeholders.
Uzodinma met with Ganduje on Tuesday, and they both met with President Tinubu yesterday, as well as Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun.
A presidency source said during the meeting that Ganduje’s selection was finalised. Following that, President Buhari, three governors, and Ganduje met with Vice President Kashim Shettima.
A source said;
It was on Monday that the issue of making Ganduje the chairman of the party started when the chairman of the PGF met with him in Abuja. Uzodinma told the former Kano State governor of the president’s intention to make him the party’s chairman.
He said the issue was finalised yesterday when the president met Ganduje together with the three governors.
From all indications, the issue is sealed. He would first be announced as the interim national chairman before the convention of the party, where his appointment would be ratified, the source added.
With this, the party’s plum seat has moved from the North Central geopolitical zone where Senator Adamu hailed from, whose resignation ignited lobbying by chieftains of the party in his geopolitical zone.