Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse and Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Ahead of its May national convention, crisis looms within the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), as northern leaders of the party have disassociated themselves from the demand of a former national secretary, Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, that the chairmanship position be zoned to the north.
This was contained in a statement by the Deputy National Chairman (North), Abubakar Adamu, after a meeting of northern leaders of the party, in Dutse, Jigawa State, yesterday.
The northern leaders called on all party faithful to disregard Shankafi’s demand as they were not part of the Kaduna meeting; neither were they contacted on the decision.
The statement, which had the signatures of 25 northern leaders of the party appended to it, added that the former national secretary had, on April 20, chaired a meeting with some unknown people in Kaduna, demanding for the chairmanship of the party to be zoned to the north, saying the demand was selfishishly conceived and did not represent the intrest of the north.
“We, the northern leaders of APGA, want to inform our members and the public that we were not part of the Kaduna meeting and we are not in anyway in support of the decision reached at the so-called APGA meeting in Asaa Pyramid Hotel, Kaduna on April 20.
“In view of this, we have categorically disassociated ourselves from the purported meeting, chaired by the former national secretary, Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, demanding for the office of the national chairman of the party to be zoned to the north.
“Therefore, all that had been delibrated at the meeting is null and void.
“The northern leaders have unanimously passed a vote of confidence on the national leader of the party and chairman of Board of Trustees (BoT), Anambra State Governor, Dr. Willie Obiano, for his good performance in governance.”
Also, South West chapter of APGA has, however, lauded Obiano’s leadership and governing style.
They passed vote of no confidence in the national chairman of the party, Victor Ike Oye.
The Southwest APGA made its position known in a communique yesterday, at the end of a stakeholders meeting at Abeokuta, capital of Ogun State.
In the communique, which was jointly signed by Mike Angel Folorunso, chairman of the communique committee and Tayo Sowunmi, convener of the meeting and member of APGA Board of Trustees, the stakeholders said the vote of no confidence in the national chairman of APGA was passed because of “his high-handed leadership style.”
They added that “Oye’s inability to convene a single meeting of the National Executive Committee of the party, since 2015, equally called his leadership style to question.”