Five governors of the ruling party have decided to reject the imposition of a former Governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Adamu Abdullahi, sources close to one of them have said.
It was gathered that one of the governors had called his colleagues on the need to speak with one voice and reject Abdullahi, who they described as agent of anti-zoning in the party.
One of the governors, who spoke with one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity, said it would be disastrous for both the party at the national level and the South-West to have the former governor as the national chairman of the party.
The federal lawmaker representing Nasarawa West Senatorial District in the National Assembly is alleged to have the backing of Buhari for the coveted position.
However, majority of the governors in the party had complained against the alleged endorsement, saying the senator might not be able to run the affairs of the party properly.
However, his stand against zoning in the party and his numerous comments supporting open grazing were said to have caught the attention of the governors from the South-West who believed such a leader would not act for the general interest of the entire country.
The source said, “We will meet with the President when he returns to the country from his medical trip. We are actually not comfortable with having the senator as the national chairman of the APC.
“Have you not read where he has been condemning the governors from the south on the ban on open grazing? Have you not heard him saying the Presidency cannot be zoned to the southern part of the country by our party, the APC?
“Leaders must have compassion and have the love of all the six zones of the country at heart. He has yet to become the national chairman, he was already talking down on a segment of the country. No, such a man cannot lead the APC.
“We are going to have a meeting with the President on the issue. We are not the only governors that are against him. Don’t forget that he is not even a foundation member of the APC. He belonged to the PDP and because of this, there is every likelihood that he might not know the purpose of the APC foundation.”
The source added that the governors would prefer the national chairman of the party to come from what he described as one of the members of the political parties that merged to form the APC.
“The next national chairman should come from the legacy parties that merged to form the APC. That is the most ideal,” he added.
Recall that the All Nigerian Peoples Party, the Congress for Progressive Change and Action Congress of Nigeria were the three political parties that dropped their identities to form the APC.
A breakaway faction of the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Grand Alliance also joined in the merging.
