The Northern Progressive Agenda NPA, a group aligned to the All Progressives Congress APC has condemned in the strongest terms, what it described as “the coup attempt by the National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu to foist an unpopular and unacceptable candidate on the members of the party.”
The group in a statement Monday night in Abuja said members of the APC and Nigerians by extension were greeted to a rude shock on Monday, when Senator Adamu announced that Senate President Ahmad Lawan has been picked as the consensus candidate of the party for the 2023 presidential election.
“The coup attempt however failed after governors of the northern region met with President Muhammadu Buhari to restate their earlier position that the presidency under the APC must move to the south. The president equally informed the governors that he has “no preferred candidate,” and has “anointed no one,” and is determined to ensure that “there shall be no imposition of any candidate on the party.
“The position of the president and that of the governors is a clear indication that Senator Adamu acted alone or in cahoot with certain interests within the corridors of power, in clear violation of every democratic principles and ideals”, said its Director General, Aliyu Audu.
The group noted that while consensus is a provision in the party’s constitution, a unilateral decision to impose Senate President Ahmad Lawan on more than 40 million members of the party without recourse to at least other aspirants and stakeholders of the party is not the consensus envisaged by its laws.
“It is at best a democratic coup that we are glad has fallen flat on its face”, it declared.
“But we are not in any way surprised by the antics and actions of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as we have always known that he does not possess the democratic credentials that should be exemplary of a National Chairman in a party like the APC. If his role as one of the chief promoters of the failed third term agenda of former President Olusegun Obasanjo was not a pointer to this, his failed attempt to impose Senate President Ahmad Lawan on the party is a confirmation. His handling of the office since his emergence as National Chairman is a further confirmation from what we have heard from fellow members of the National Working Committee.
“Although it is a little bit too late to cry, it is on record that patriotic members of the party saw this before hand and raised the alarm that an Abdullahi Adamu led National Working Committee, where loyal, qualified and competent foundation members of the party were there to select from is not only an aberration but a violation of the established principle of the APC which respects long term fidelity to the party and frowns at every vestige of injustice.
“But we must give kudos to the twelve northern governors of the APC who has not only ensured that Adamu’s coup failed as soon as it was executed, but have maintained position that it is the turn of the South to produce the presidency. Their position fulfills the call we made at our press conference on the 3rd of June, where we advocated that the north cannot afford to betray the trust it has been known for that earned it various support from the south, especially considering the support we got that brought President Muhammadu Buhari, who is now running out his second term of eight years.
“The coup attempt of Senator Abdullahi Adamu May have failed, but the evil agenda may still be very much alive. As a result, we call on the northern governors and other leaders of thought to be on the safeguard until we reach the final destination of our struggle. For us in the Northern Progressive Agenda, we reiterate that power must not only shift to the south, it should be given to a man whom aside his requisite political experience, extensive network and national appeal to win election for a political party like the All Progressives Congress is also befitting of the honour having stood with the north when it mattered”, the northern group added.
