Ahead of the National Executive Committee NEC meeting of the All Progressives Congress APC scheduled for Thursday 24 June 2025, President Bola Tinubu has been urged to ensure that the position of the party’s National Chairman is returned to the North Central.
The North Central All Progressives Congress APC Forum made the appeal in a statement by its Chairman Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga released in Abuja on Tuesday ahead of the NEC meeting.
It is expected that the NEC will deliberate on crucial party issues including the possible appointment of a substantive National Chairman to replace Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje who resigned from the position in June.
In the statement signed by Zazzaga, a member of the APC campaign council during the 2023 election, the Forum said returning the position of National Chairman to the region is the only fair and just decision that could be taken at the NEC meeting.
The Forum noted that beyond being the region due to produce the National Chairman going by the subsisting zoning arrangement, the North Central also deserves the position because of its contributions to the success and development of the APC.
Abdullahi Adamu, former governor of Nasarawa State, became APC National Chairman when the position was zoned to the North Central during the party’s National Convention in March 2022 but resigned in July 2023 without completing his tenure. This led to the appointment of Abdullahi Ganduje, former Kano State governor, as National Chairman in August 2023.
Ganduje resigned on June 27 2025 and the Deputy National Chairman North Ali Bukar Dalori from Borno State is currently holding the position in acting capacity.
“As the National Executive Committee of our great party the All Progressives Congress APC meets on Thursday June 24 2025, we the North Central APC Forum appeal to President Bola Tinubu and other leaders of the party to do the right thing and ensure that the National Chairman is returned to the North Central.
The North Central has over the years played an important and strategic role in the progress and growth of the APC and any decision that goes contrary to returning the position of National Chairman to the region will amount to betrayal. It will be a terrible disappointment to stakeholders of the North Central if the NEC fails to uphold fairness and equity by returning the National Chairman to the region,” the statement said.
Insisting that the North Central deserves to produce the APC National Chairman, the Forum said the region had consistently paid its dues to the development of the party and cannot be sidelined.
The statement added, “North Central deserves to produce the APC National Chairman due to the region’s contributions to the party. The North Central gave President Bola Tinubu and the APC the third highest number of votes in the 2023 presidential poll behind the South West and North West.”
Tinubu received 1,760,993 votes representing 41.3 percent in the North Central in 2023. Peter Obi of the Labour Party scored 1,415,557 votes representing 33.2 percent while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 1,025,178 votes representing 24.1 percent in the region.
“Among the various geopolitical zones, the North Central has the highest number of APC governors. APC controls five of the six North Central states namely Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa and Niger. This unmatched record demonstrates the strength and wide acceptance of the party in the region.
Returning the position of National Chairman to the North Central, in accordance with the zoning arrangement of the APC, is not a favour, rather it is well deserved,” the statement said.
Speaking further, the Forum stated that the North Central and the North West remain the two zones firmly supporting President Bola Tinubu.
“Only North West and North Central believe in President Bola Tinubu 100 percent. We do not want a situation where our people will at the end of the day feel that their contributions are not appreciated. We therefore appeal to the President to use the opportunity of this NEC meeting to return the National Chairman to the North Central,” the Forum said.
The North Central APC Forum also rejected calls for the extension of acting National Chairman Ali Bukar Dalori’s tenure until after the national convention.
The call for extension had been made by the All Progressives Stakeholders Forum in an open letter signed by its leader Dr Maryam Danjaki and addressed to President Bola Tinubu on Monday.
According to the Stakeholders Forum, any reshuffling or change in the current APC leadership could ignite internal unrest, weaken cohesion and provide political opportunists the chance to exploit the situation.
Countering the position, the North Central APC Forum said allowing Dalori to remain as acting chairman would amount to “robbing Peter to pay Paul” as it would allow the North East where Dalori hails from to occupy the position of National Chairman at the expense of the North Central.
The Forum noted that the North Central has contributed more to the APC than the North East.
“It is on record that the opposition won in the North East in 2023 even though the running mate of President Bola Tinubu is from the zone,” the statement said.
Results from the 2023 presidential election showed that in the North East Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 1,741,846 votes representing 55.9 percent while Tinubu polled 933,176 votes representing 29.9 percent.
The Forum dismissed concerns that a change in leadership would lead to crisis, arguing that returning the National Chairman position to the North Central would instead revitalize the party as it would show the APC is committed to fairness and equity.
The Forum concluded, “There are several capable personalities in the North Central who have the capacity to lead the APC to greater heights. We appeal to President Bola Tinubu to choose any one of them to lead the party as National Chairman.”
