Ahead of the national convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), stakeholders of the party have rejected the purported endorsement of former governor of Nasarawa state, Senator Abdullahi Adamu and former Senate President Ken Nnamani as chairman and deputy chairman South, respectively.
The stakeholders’ forum also vowed to reject the inclusion of former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, as a member of Media Committee for the forthcoming national convention.
There were reports in a section of the media (not Blueprint) that President Muhammadu Buhari had endorsed Senator Adamu and the for Senate President Nnamani as chairman and Deputy chairman South respectively.
But reacting to the development at a press conference Tuesday in Abuja, spokesman for the APC National Stakeholders, Aliyu Audu, said the individuals who are purportedly behind the plot to make Senator Abdullahi Adamu the next APC national chairman and Senator Nnamani and deputy chairman South, cannot sit down alone in their zones and decide who gets what in the party.
According to Audu, Adamu does not possess the democratic credentials that should be exemplary of a National Chairman in a party like the APC, considering that he was one of the strong proponents of Obasanjo’s third term agenda.
“We therefore believe that any endorsement of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, either purported or real, as the chairman of our party is a very dangerous gamble, one that signals a return of our much beloved progressive party to the hands of the original PDP members.
“We are also not unaware of plans to also bring another member of the party from the stock of the People’s Democratic Party in the person of former Senate President Ken Nnamani, to serve as the Deputy National Chairman (South) of All Progressives Congress.
“While he is known publicly to be a member of the All Progressives Congress, there are several instances where his loyalty to the party has been questioned. Information out there is that he has continued to be a member of APC in the day time and a member of PDP at night, and while this information has not been proven to be true, the APC would be playing safe by refusing to hand over such an important position of Deputy National Chairman to a man whose loyalty once completely lied in the opposition.
“At this point in the life of the APC, what we need is a leader that can midwife us away from the damages caused to the party over the years and definitely not an individual who does not originally share in the ideals of the APC nor one whose temperament and level of tolerance will further deepen the disappointments of already disillusioned party members.
“As stakeholders we would rather throw our weight behind an aspirant whose integrity is unquestionable, someone who has demonstrated a proven capacity for youth inclusion and the ability to harvest the energy of young people to drive party activities especially in this age of digital and social media mobilization.”
On the plan to appoint Fani-Kayode as deputy chairman for the Convention Media Committee, Audu said his group will wait until the names of Committee members are released to the public to act on it.
He said: “Fani-Kayode has right to join the APC but to make him a Committee member is condemnable and we will reject it.”
