The North-Central Forum of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has demanded prompt apology from Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum for allegedly hiring thugs to attack the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, at a meeting in Gombe State on Sunday.
During the meeting, Ganduje and APC National Vice Chairman (North-East), Comrade Mustapha Salihu had announced the zone’s endorsement of President Bola Tinubu for a second term without mentioning Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate in the 2027 election.
Ganduje and Salihu had to be escorted out of the venue under heavy security as protests broke out at the meeting venue.
In a statement on Monday by its Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Forum faulted Zulum’s conduct, accusing him of mobilising thugs against the party’s National Chairman.
It also defended Ganduje’s action, noting that it is only the presidential candidate who can nominate the running mate in the election.
The statement read: ‘It is the prerogative of the President to nominate his Vice President. Nobody is going to force President Bola Tinubu to choose who should be his Vice President; it is left for him to nominate whoever he feels he can work with.
‘We are condemning the action of Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State for mobilizing thugs to attack the National Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje. Ganduje is innocent; he was discharging his constitutionally required duties as Party National Chairman.
‘It is not the National Chairman’s responsibility to nominate a Vice President. It is also not his responsibility to endorse anyone for Vice President. As a party official, he is meant to be neutral, and he displayed his neutrality at the North-East stakeholders’ meeting.
‘We, the North-Central APC Forum, are asking the Governor of Borno State to apologize for mobilizing thugs against the National Chairman. Governor Babagana Zulum should apologize to Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje immediately.
‘As stakeholders who are committed to the progress and development of the party, we are not happy with the conduct of the Governor of Borno State’.
The Forum noted that Zulum and the North-East have no reason to feel entitled to any privileges in the APC because the region did not deliver the expected results for the presidential candidate and the party in the 2023 election.
According to the statement, the North-Central, which gave the APC and Candidate Tinubu more votes in the last election, should be the one demanding special privileges rather than the North-East.
‘It is on record that the opposition won in the North-East in 2023, even though the Vice President is from the zone. The North-Central gave the APC and Tinubu the third-highest number of votes — behind the North-West and the South-West.
‘So, if any zone should feel entitled to special considerations, definitely it is not the North-East, which makes Governor Babagana Zulum’s action even more unfortunate’, the statement added.
According to the statement, a breakdown of the results from the 2023 presidential election showed that the South-West gave Tinubu the highest number of votes, securing 2,542,979 votes, which is 58.4 percent of votes cast in the region.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, got 951,941 votes (22.6%) in the zone, while Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) got 849,423 votes (19.5%).
In the North-West, Tinubu got 2,652,235 votes (41.0%), Atiku garnered 2,197,824 votes (33.9%) and Kwankwaso got 1,268,250 votes (19.6%).
In the North-Central, Tinubu received 1,760,993 votes (41.3%), Obi got 1,415,557 votes (33.2%), while Atiku got 1,025,178 votes (24.1%).
However, it said in the North-East, Atiku got the highest number of votes — 1,741,846 (55.9%) — while Tinubu came a distant second with 933,176 votes (29.9%) [Factcheck: 1,185,458 (35.23%)]
In Borno State — Zulum and Shettima’s state — APC got 252,282 votes, while PDP finished a close second with 190,921.
The Forum observed that Shettima’s emergence as Tinubu’s running mate in 2023 was based on political calculations which may no longer be viable for the next election.
The Forum specifically noted that the Muslim-Muslim APC ticket was adopted as a strategy to win the 2023 election.
‘It is possible that a Muslim-Muslim ticket will no longer be the best option in 2027, when President Bola Tinubu will stand for reelection. Also, party leaders will also look at where larger numbers of votes are likely to come from. All these issues are to be considered based on the party’s interest, not according to the selfish interest of individuals.
‘Mr. President knows what is best for the party, and we hereby align with whatever decision he takes when the time comes. We also expect all party members, no matter their personal interests or how highly placed they are, to align with the President’s decision’, the statement said.
The Forum dismissed speculations that the protests that trailed the Gombe North-East stakeholders’ meeting marked the beginning of a crisis in the party.
‘What happened in Gombe at the North-East stakeholders’ meeting is an isolated incident which will not affect the state of affairs in our great party. The APC, as a party of progressives, is a strong institution and will not derail under the capable leadership of President Bola Tinubu and the National Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje.
‘We urge all party faithful to remain calm and focus on the task ahead, which is to actualize a resounding victory in the 2027 election and the off-cycle polls. We are confident that the party will remain strong and united’, the statement further said.
The Forum restated its pledge to deliver six million votes for President Tinubu from the North-Central in 2027.
