National Convention: Latent uproar over Buhari’s endorsement of Adamu for APC national chairman

There are emerging indicators of latent uproar in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over purported endorsement of Abdulahi Adamu as APC national chairman by President Muhammadu Buhari, and others for various offices in the National Working Committee (NWC). Members of the APC NWC are expected to be elected at the party’s national convention scheduled for March, but there is emerging bickering by some party members of alleged leaked documents revealing that President Muhammadu Buhari unilaterally decided the composition of the new NWC of the party.

President Buhari, according to the alleged documents, unilaterally endorsed Senator Abdulahi Adamu, former Nasarawa State Governor, for APC national chairman, beside others.

The perceived unilateral endorsement of NWC members by the President has been generating suspicion that the president plots to further influence the emergence of the APC presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections, leading to the fear that the party’s convention will not be transparent and internal democracy may be subverted.

The alleged documents, DAILY POST said, was leaked on Friday and purportedly signed by the President; revealing that “President Buhari personally endorsed all the plans and choices of candidates presented to him by a clique in the party that is reportedly made up of some northern governors and ministers in his cabinet.”

The purported documents were said to further reveal that President Buhari endorsed “Senator Abdullahi Adamu, north central, for National Chairman, Senator John Akpanudoedehe, south-south, for National Secretary, Senator Ken Nnamani, southeast, for Deputy National Chairman (South), beside others.”

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Some APC members were cited to have protested that the President’s endorsement of the zoning formula and the candidates has closed any further debate on the matter.

The alleged “documents sighted by DAILY POST showed that the President first endorsed a set of documents setting out zoning arrangements on March 1, 2022, while he endorsed Adamu and others on February 25, 2022.”

An APC stalwart was said to have protested the anointing of some party members by the President without consultation while preparations for the national convention are still in place, describing the arrangement as “a bad precedent to weaken Nigeria’s democracy.”

Meanwhile, National Daily investigation revealed that APC has always had its national chairman emerged through nomination by a party leader from the inception. The pioneer APC Interim National Chairman, Bisi Akande; his successor, Chief John Odigie-Oyrgun, and later Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, were unilaterally nominated by the APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Each nomination was presented to President Buhari for endorsement, which the president always did, then sponsored as consensus chairman for national endorsement. The political trading was done in the interest of the legacy party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) led by Tinubu in the APC coalition, controlling the national chairman as another legacy party, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has the president.

In the preparations for the 2023 general elections, the CPC is giving up the presidency, while the ACN is in hot contest for the presidency, with the co opted new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP). Apparently, if the allegation of unilateral endorsement is valid, President Buhari may not be acting out of contest or existing tradition of the emergence of APC national chairman over the years. The major shift is the purported consideration of an ally of the nPDP where the Minister of Transportation, Right Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, is playing crucial role, and also aspiring for the APC presidential ticket.