The North-West Grassroots Support Network (NW-GSN) has rejected an alleged plot by some northern governors to zone the All Progressives Congress’ national chairmanship to the north-central.
According to the group, the north-west is more deserving of the position at this material time.
In a press statement signed by Alhaji Adamu Yakubu and issued in Kaduna today, the NW-GSN said any attempt to impose a candidate from north-central on the faithful will be resisted and could potentially lead to a further crisis in the party.
Yakubu, therefore, urged all APC stakeholders to disregard a story in a national daily that claimed that some Progressive Governors have endorsed a particular candidate.
He urged all chairmanship aspirants from the northwest to continue with their consultations and mobilize their supporters to the national convention.
The North-West Grassroots Support Network, however, expressed confidence that at the end of the February 26th event, the zone will return back home with the national chairmanship position.
Read full statement below:
The North-West Grassroots Support Network (NESG) is disappointed to note the speculative kite flying by some northern governors to the effect that the position of the national chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has been zoned to the north-central geo-political zone.
While not dismissing the array of competent candidates for the position in the north-central or any other geo-political zone, we want to categorically point out that the north-west is more entitled to the position of APC national chairman at this material time than any other zone.
We therefore wondered why some selfish governors and their aides will chose to go to town with uniamgainable and calculated falsehood to deceive members of the public on the position of things. This strategy of flying a kite in the media about the zoning of the position is in our view a waste of effort.
APC is an association of democrats and we know that other aspirants, some even from the north west, have toured the entire country to share their ideas, philosophy and programs to move the APC forward. Some of such aspirants have received the endorsement of as many as 35 states.
Consequently, we are compelled to ask if these so-called governors have also been authorized to speak for states where the party has no governor? Have the governors’ dictatorial tendencies got to a stage where they assume jurisdiction over states they do not have the mandate to govern?
Why are these so called governors more interested in causing disharmony within the ranks of the party against the known democratic tenets that anticipate that delegates to the national convention are allowed to vote for candidates of their choice?
The story therefore credited to a national daily that some Progressive Governors have constituted themselves into the party and endorsed a particular candidate is totally misleading. The story should be disregarded by APC stakeholders as the fake news that it.
The North-West Grassroots Support Network urge all aspirants from the north-west contesting for the position of the National Chairman at the upcoming convention to continue with their consultations and mobilize their supporters to the national convention. They should not yield their constitutionally guaranteed freedom to aspiration to political opportunists who have employed everything from falsehood to scare tactics to personalize the APC that we all built together.
For the avoidance of doubt, the north west will not return back home from the National Convention with anything less than the position of the National Chairman of the party and no so called progresive governor pursuing a narrow self interest can stop the party.