The power play and intrigues have begun, who finally gets the nod to become the next APC national chairman as the race heats up further?
Report making the rounds has it on good authority that the APC may have zoned the chairmanship position to the North Central while the secretary position to the South East.
Going by this decision, therefore, narrows the race to some individuals while some other heavyweight party chieftains in the race may have been edged out.
Before now no fewer than 11 aspirants have signified interest in the party’s top job, the former Deputy National Chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Mallam Saliu Mustapha, a former governor of Nasarawa state, Senator Tanko Almakura, former governor of Borno state Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, current Senator representing Niger East, Mohammed Sani Musa, former governor of Zamfara state Abdulaziz Yari and former governor of Bauchi state Isa Yuguda.
Others include; Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, Mr Sunny Moniedafe, former Borno governor, Senator Kashim Shettima, former Gombe State governor, Senator Danjuma Goje and Mohammed Saidu Etsu.
Apparently from the list mentioned above the race may have been narrowed down to Mallam Saliu Mustapha, Senator Tanko Almakura, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, Senator George Akume and Mohammed Saidu Etsu.
So who amongst these aspirants from the North Central would emerge as the next party national chairman?
If we are to follow reports coming in from top sources both within the Villa and the party apparatchik then Saliu Mustapha may likely be the anointed candidate for obvious reasons.
Party stakeholders are of the strong conviction that this time around the position of the party chairman should be given to a core APC stalwart who has never jumped from one party to another under the flimsy excuses of membership exclusion.
According to an APC chieftain “Saliu Mustapha has never been a member of the PDP in his entire political life. He is a core party loyalist.”
They see him as the perfect candidate for the APC top Job.
“You see it is high time we begin to reward party loyalty, our party must be at the vanguard of rewarding party loyalty and now is the time to walk the talk.
From all the contestants Saliu Mustapha remains the most trusted and loyal party member, here was a man who was wrongly disqualified because of his popularity in the last KWARA Gubernatorial election and yet he still went ahead to become a major individual donor to the governorship campaign organisation, how can a party member be more loyal to his party?
It is on record that the last NEC of our party as led by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole tendered an apology over his disqualification, if we must be seen to get it right then Saliu Mustapha is the perfect choice for the job.” He further stated.
Saliu Mustapha’s popularity may not be unconnected with the fact that the technocrat who happens to be a longtime ally of President Buhari is a renowned philanthropist whose foundation the Saliu Mustapha Foundation, SMF has been offering humanitarian services to Nigerians across the 36 states of the Federation for over a decade.
Party stakeholders consider him as a bridge between the elders and younger generations in the party, his ideologies and blueprint seem to be well accepted among party devotees.
Then there is the issue of avoidance of distractions laced with former Governors emerging as party chairmen, according to a top source in the villa who craved anonymity the party at this critical time needs a chairman that can be easily accessible.
“I must confess to you we have decided to take a chairman that is free from the burden of praise-singing and imposition of candidates, with the former this and that profile it is quite herculean for we members to approach our national chairman, we need somebody that would be more of a servant leader and easily approachable.”
When further asked who the aspirant was he replied, ” do your own research and understand where we are coming from, the party must hit the ground running and provide the right framework to bring about popular candidates for elective offices across the federation, we can only do this if we have a transparent and democratic system of administration in our great party. I can’t say more than I have spoken but mark it today that the next APC chairman would be a progressive that is free from all baggage” Our source concluded.
Is Saliu Mustapha the anointed candidate for the APC’s top job? Currently, the Turaki of Ilorin leads opinion polls as the likely candidate to grab the APC chairmanship seat.
Stay tuned to our daily updates as we bring you behind the scene politicking as we march towards the February 26th APC national congress.
Copyright TRUSTAFRICA NEWS.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from TRUSTAFRICA NEWS.
Contact: [email protected]
