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APC Crisis : Chieftain gives Ganduje 7 days ultimatum to resign

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Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje
Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje,APC National Chairman

 

A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, has formally written to the embattled National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje, asking him to resign within 7 days.

Zazzaga who is the Chairman of North Central APC Forum and also served as a Member, Stakeholder Relations of Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council addressed newsmen on Tuesday in Jos the Plateau State capital.

He explained that the letter explicitly outlined the reason he is asking Ganduje to resign, and that the 7 days ultimatum expires next week Monday, upon which he will take legal action as necessary.

He revealed that at the National Convention of the party held on the 26th March, 2022, the National Chairmanship of the party was zoned to the North Central Geopolitical Zone of the country, but that Ganduje is from the North West region.

The party chieftain pointed out therefore that Ganduje’s occupation of the position is in violation of Article 31.5 (i) and (iv) of the APC Constitution 2022 (as amended), and also contrary to the ratified zoning arrangement of the party which zoned the National Chairmanship position to the North Central Geopolitical zone and particularly to Nasarawa State.

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He said the letter will be on record that they have been applying divers means to resolve the matter amicably, and have used several internal crises resolving mechanism and communications, but Ganduje is hellbent on occupying the position which is constitutionally for the North Central.

The letter read: “I am a member and stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC) (hereinafter referred to as “the party”) having been registered since 2016. Being an active and committed member of our great party, I was appointed and served as Member, Stakeholder Relations Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council on the 11th day of December, 2022, which function I earnestly performed leading to the election of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Alh. Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR and his Vice President.

“Please recall that following the build up to the National Convention of the party held on the 26th March, 2022, wherein the National Chairmanship of the party was zoned to the North Central Geopolitical Zone of the country and further micro-zoned to Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu from Nasarawa State was elected National Chairman of the party for a term of four years. This was done based on the ratification of the zoning arrangement by the National Convention to ensure an even geographical spread of the executive positions of the party to accommodate the interests of the members and all the geographical zones in the country.

“However, on the 3rd day of August, 2023, after the resignation of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as National chairman of the party just barely two years into his tenure, the party in violation of Article 31.5 (i) and (iv) of its Constitution 2022 (as amended) and contrary to the ratified zoning arrangement of the party zoning the National Chairmanship position to the North Central Geopolitical zone and particularly to Nasarawa State, surreptitiously appointed His Excellency Abdullahi Ganduje PhD from the North West Geopolitical Zone of the country.

“The appointment of His Excellency Abdullahi Ganduje PhD as the National Chairman of the party was greeted with deep seated resentment and disappointment by members of the party, particularly in the North Central Geopolitical Zone and other organs of the party. It must be noted that the said appointment completely violated the provisions of the APC Constitution 2022 (as amended), eradicated the principle of internal democracy which the party protects jealously and jettisoned the zoning arrangement thereby bringing the party to disrepute and further deepened the rancour, distrust and divisions amongst millions of its members, thus, affecting the chances of the party winning any elections in the North Central Geopolitical Zone and the country at large.

“This is aside from the fact that His Excellency Abdullahi Ganduje PhD is standing trial at the High Court of Justice of Kano State on allegations bordering on corruption.

“In light of the above, I call for the immediate resignation of His Excellency Abdullahi Ganduje PhD as the National Chairman of our great party. This is to afford the party the opportunity to imbibe the doctrine of internal democracy as guaranteed by the party constitution and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, uphold all zoning agreements reached by the party in order to foster unity and commitment of members thereby brightening the chances of the party winning future elections in the North Central Geopolitical Zone of the country.

“In the alternative, I humbly request His Excellency Abdullahi Ganduje PhD to step aside as National Chairman of the party and allow for the appointment of a Fact-finding committee to examine the matter in line with Article 21.3 of the APC Constitution 2022.

“Take notice that failure to adhere to the options stated above within 7 days of your receipt of this letter, leaves me with no option but to invoke the full amplitude of the law. This I shall do without reverting back to you.”

Zazzaga also copied President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Speaker House of Representatives, Honourable Tajudeen Abbas, the National Working Committee of the APC and the National Advisory Council of the APC.

Recall that the North Central APC forum had earlier dragged Ganduje to the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking his removal as the National Chairman, but the court struck out the case giving some reasons.

Nonetheless, the North Central APC and the various party chieftains from the region have vowed to fight on until they get back the position, as well as other rights that is constitutionally theirs.

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NUC hikes private university application fees

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The Federal Government has hiked the application fees for new private universities to N25m, a memo issued by the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu said on Monday.

The previous processing fee was N5m.

The Commission said the move was part of its efforts at repositioning private universities in Nigeria to better meet the needs of the citizenry and for better coordination of the development of the Private University Education sub-sector of the Nigerian University System.

It also said it has identified the need to review the guidelines for the establishment of private universities.

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Atiku, Tambuwal, Imoke in Strategic Closed-Door Meeting with Obasanjo

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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Monday led a delegation to meet with his former boss, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo at the hilltop residence of the former Nigerian leader in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The former vice president was accompanied by former Governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke and Senator Aminu Tambuwal who is a former governor of Sokoto State.

The agenda of the meeting was not known as of press time but it comes amid plans by opposition politicians to map out strategies to trounce the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and win the 2027 presidential election.

 

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Agitation For the Creation Of 31 More States: Politics Or Development?An Exercise in Futility Unless There Is Consensus – renowned Political Scientist.

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Abbas Yushau Yusuf

Last week the Nigerian House of Representatives during its plenary session told the nation that it received the proposal for the creation of more states numbering thirty-one.

Currently, Nigeria has a 36-state structure and if the proposed thirty-one are added the states will be 67. Nigeria started with three regions and has been restructured by the military and for over 64 years the agitation did not die down.

On February 5th, 2025 the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution announced on Thursday, that it has received 31 proposals for the creation of new states across the six geopolitical zones.

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Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu read a letter from the committee during plenary, outlining the conditions that must be met before any state creation requests can be approved.

According to the letter, the proposals include five from the North Central, four from the North East, five from the North West, five from the South East, four from the South-South, and seven from the South West.

Among the states being considered are Okun, Okura, and Confluence (Kogi); Benue Ala and Apa (Benue); FCT State; Amana (Adamawa); Katagum (Bauchi); Savannah (Borno); and Muri (Taraba).

The states also include New Kaduna state and Gujarat states from Kaduna state; Tiga and Ari from Kano, and Kainji from Kebbi state; Etiti and Orashi as the 6th state in the South East, Adada from Enugu, Orlu, and Aba from the South East.

They also include Ogoja from Cross River, Warri from Delta, Ori and Obolo from Rivers; Torumbe from Ondo, Ibadan from Oyo, Lagoon from Lagos, and Ogun, Ijebu from Ogun, Oke Ogun/Ijesha from Oyo/Ogun/Osun states.

According to the letter, Section 8 of the 1999 Constitution as amended outlines specific requirements that must be fulfilled to initiate the process of state creation.

The letter said “a request to the National Assembly for the purpose of creating a new state shall only be passed if a request supported by at least the third majority of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly in respect of the area, and the Local Government Council in respect of the area, is received by the National Assembly.

But in an exclusive interview with a renowned Nigerian Political Scientist with Kano state college of Arts and Science, CAS Kano
Dr. Kabiru Saidu Sufi and a traditional title holder of Marafan Dambatta said unless there is consensus it will be an exercise in futility.

“I think like you rightly said states have become a recurring issue in Nigerian politics overtime there have been this agitation, the more states you create the more agitation, you are likely going to have from all quarters and this one is not a new one, and there have been the debate of whether the creation of states will be beneficial or not. The proponents in practice and in theory believe if you create more states, you are creating more avenues to which you will bring government closer to the people, because as it is the size of some of the states is so large and they believe that if some of these states are broken down they will bring government closer to the people, and there is also the issue of administrative efficiency and you know some people that believe if you create more states these states are more viable and you will have more administrative efficiency and thirdly there are those who believe these states are serving as a future training ground for national leaders, so they will go to the federal level and they say most of them start from the states, so some people believe that the more states you have the more training ground you are creating, for future leaders so, then on the other hand there are those people who believe the creator of states is detrimental to political development, for example they believe you are further disuniting people than uniting them, the more states you have the more divided Nigerians are, so there are those who believe we should have few states and they say let’s even go back to the regions, so that Nigerians will have more sense of unity, and some see the states as an avenue where money is being spent, rather than saving which they say we are creating avenues for spending more money than saving, and when you spend more money is not, and there are those that see the more you create the states the more you are bringing further agitations, and there is even this debate whether it’s possible to even create states under civilian dispensation especially taking into consideration the fact that in the past all states were created during the military regime and so there is this issue of constitutional procedure of creating more states, which is not an easy exercise in which Section 19 has laid down procedures which you can amend the constitution for which you can create states and amend borders and this is a very conversant process ranging from getting the two third majority in the two federal chambers of the Senate and House of Representatives and then the two third majority of the 36 states houses of assembly and in some cases there are serious issues, and there is also involvement of getting the four fifth of the states Houses of Assembly and no matter one will look at it and see that it is not an easy exercise and is something that requires a very rigorous procedure and that may not necessarily be easy to satisfy and in that regard one can say is an exercise in futility and no matter the agitation at the end of the day it does not become a reality and the only way we can make it a reality is to have a lead consensus and when the leadership of the country agree to the desirability of the creation of the states then probably they will find a way of making it easier and when there is no lead consensus you find it to be an exercise in futility.”

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