President Buhari Rejects APC Govs Plea To Dump Adamu As Preferred Nat’l Chairman

Governors of the All Progressives Congress, APC, were, yesterday, unable to convince President Muhammadu Buhari in their attempt to make him change his mind on his preference for Senator Abdulahi Adamu as the consensus candidate for the party’s national chairman.

The APC governors on the platform of Progressive Governors Forum, PGF, met with the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, shortly before he departed for Kenya.

This came as the South-East geopolitical zone has lost out in its bid to produce the national secretary of the party in the forthcoming national convention.

It was learned that the office of the national secretary was zoned to South-West rather than their region.

The South-East APC leaders, it was further learned, have resolved to take their agitation for the party scribe post to a meeting of the APC that was expected to hold later, yesterday night.

Sources at the meeting blamed the representatives of the South East at the meeting for not being forceful enough in their demand.

Though, Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State, who has indicated interest to contest for presidency in 2023, was absent, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State and the outgoing deputy governor of Anambra State, Nkem Okeke, were present.

A Presidency source said the APC governors had hoped to get President Buhari to change his mind on the former Nasarawa State governor and serving senator, who has since emerged as his favourite for the party top job.

The source said the governors’ efforts hit brick walls as the president was said to have bluntly refused to shift ground when the governors presented their reasons against Adamu, who currently represents Nasarawa West senatorial district.

The governors were led to the meeting with the President by the chairman of the PGF and governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu.

Aside Bagudu, other APC governors at the meeting were Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Aminu Masari (Katsina), Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Uzodimma (Imo), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Sani Bello (Niger), Umar Ganduje (Kano), and the outgoing deputy governor of Anambra State, Nkem Okeke.

Even after the meeting with the president, some of the governors, who were rattled by the president’s insistence on Adamu were seen speaking in hush tones and planning on their next step.

It was gathered that the chairman of the APC Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, CECPC, and Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni, was also absent at the meeting.