2023: How Governor Sani emerged APC’s acting chairman a month after endorsing Tinubu for presidency

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, various power blocs and interest groups in the All Progressives Congress (APC) have started taking steps to fight for the soul of the ruling party.

On Monday, March 7, Governor Sani Bello of Niger state, took control of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), declaring himself as “acting chairman”.

Sani claimed that he had been serving as the acting chairman “for a while since the chairman (Buni) travelled,”.

He, however, declined comment when asked to confirm whether Buni has been sacked and he has been appointed as the new chairman of the Caretaker Committee.

His deafening silence fueled the speculations that Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe state who stepped into the chairman’s office in 2020 has been finally removed.

Governor Bello’s emergence as the acting chairman of the APC comes a month after endorsing the presidential aspiration of the party’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Bello is one of the three serving state governors who have openly backed Tinubu to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

While declaring his support for Tinubu recently, he described the APC leader as “a candidate to reckon with.”

The Niger state governor made the remark on Thursday, January 20,when he received Tinubu during a visit to the Government House in Minna.

ALSO READ: Why APC’s alleged snubbing of the South-East could affect the party’s chances in 2023

He added that he is looking forward to seeing Tinubu replicate the foundation he laid in Lagos for Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the zoning committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has submitted its report to the governor of Niger state, Abubakar Sani Bello.

This was disclosed in a tweet by Gboyega Akosile, the chief press secretary to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state.

It was gathers that Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara state who is the chairman of the committee submitted the report on Monday, March 7, during a meeting of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of the APC.

The meeting was presided over by Governor Bello at the National Secretariat of the party, in Abuja.

Akosile tweeted:“Breaking: Kwara State Governor @RealAARahman has submitted the report of the @OfficialAPCNg Zoning Committee in line with the deadline set by the party ahead of its National Convention. The report was received on behalf of the party by Gov. Abubakar Sani Bello.”

ALSO READ: 2 Southern governors who may not deliver their states for the party in 2023

However, Ben Abdul, a constitutional and international analyst and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari cannot sack Governor Mai Mala Buni as the national caretaker chairman of the ruling party.

Abdul made this known in a statement sent to journalists on Monday, March 7 while reacting to the lead story in a major national newspaper that President Buhari had sacked Buni, who is also the current Yobe state governor.

He said the only organ of the party that can remove Buni as the chairman of the party is the National Executive Committee which is the highest decision-making organ of the party, adding that President Buhari is not the NEC of the party.

The APC chieftain said even if the president does not want Buni in the position, the highest he can do, is to covertly lobby those in NEC to find a way to remove Buni.