NEC meeting: APC Forum urges Tinubu to return National Chairman to North-Central

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President Bola Tinubu has been requested to make sure that the role of the party’s National Chairman is returned to the North-Central before the ruling All Progressives Congress’s (APC) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Thursday, June 24, 2025.

Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the chairman of the North-Central All Progressives Congress, or APC, Forum, made the plea in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday in advance of the NEC meeting.

It is anticipated that the APC NEC will discuss important party matters during the meeting, primarily the potential appointment of a permanent National Chairman to succeed Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, who resigned in June.

The North-Central APC Forum stated that the only reasonable and equitable decision that could be made at the NEC meeting is to return the role of National Chairman to the area in a statement signed by Zazzaga, an APC campaign council member in the 2023 election.

The Forum pointed out that in addition to being the area that ought to produce the National Chairman based on the current zoning scheme, the North-Central region also merits the position because of its contributions to the APC’s growth and success.

APC National Chairman Abdullahi Adamu, a former Nasarawa State governor, was appointed to the North-Central post during the party’s National Convention in March 2022, however he resigned in July 2023 before serving out their term, which resulted in the appointment of former Kano State governor Abdullahi Ganduje as National Chairman in August 2023.

Ali Bukar Dalori, the Deputy National Chairman (North) of Borno State, is currently serving in the role in an acting capacity after Ganduje resigned on June 27, 2025.

“As the National Executive Committee (NEC) 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 retuning the National Chairman to the region,” the statement said.

The Forum insisted that the North-Central region should be the national chairman of the APC because it has contributed to the party’s growth over the years and cannot be ignored.

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.”

In 2023, Tinubu was elected with 1,760,993 votes (41.3%) in the North-Central. In the region, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party received 1,025,178 votes (24.1%), while Peter Obi of the Labour Party received 1,415,557 votes (33.2%).

“Among the various geopolitical zones, the North-Central has the highest number of APC governors. APC controls five of the six North-Central states – Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa and Niger. This unmatched record demonstrates the strength and the 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.

The APC Forum went on to say that the two regions that fully support President Bola Tinubu are the North-Central and the North-West.

“Only North-West and North-Central believe in President Bola Tinubu 100 percent. We don’t 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.”

In a same spirit, the North-Central APC Forum denied requests to prolong the term of interim National Chairman Ali Bukar Dalori till following the national convention.

A group called the All Progressives Stakeholders Forum made the request in an open letter to President Bola Tinubu on Monday, signed by their leader, Dr. Maryam Danjaki.

Any change to the APC’s current leadership, according to the All Progressives Stakeholders Forum, might spark internal strife, erode unity, and provide political opportunists an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

The North-Central APC Forum, in response to the appeal, stated that permitting Dalori to remain in office would be like to “robbing Peter to pay Paul” since it would imply that the North-East, where Dalori is from, would take the national chairmanship at the expense of the North-Central. Dalori hails from the northeastern state of Borno.

The North-Central has done more for the APC than the North-East, according to the Forum.

“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.

According to a breakdown of the results of the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu received 933,176 votes (29.9%), far less than the 1,741,846 votes that Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP, received in the North-East.

The Forum also rejected claims that changing the APC’s current leadership or reorganizing it could cause an internal crisis. Instead, the Forum contended that bringing the National Chairman back to the North-Central would result in a leadership change and reenergize the party by demonstrating the APC’s dedication to equity and justice.

The Forum added, “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 anyone of them to lead the party as National Chairman.”

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