National chairman, secretary of APC resigns from office; APC stakeholders happy he is gone for good

Adamu is said to have resigned his position as the national chairman of the APC due to a gang-up against him by the people around the president.

The former APC chairman reportedly tendered his resignation when he got the wind that two influential personalities around the president had mobilised against him ahead of the party’s National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) slated for Tuesday, July 18, 2023, and Wednesday, July 19, 2023.

The resignation was said to have been submitted to the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila on Sunday. Adamu has refused to make further comments on the matter until the return of the president.

A source who was privy to the details of the resignation said that Adamu resigned to save himself from being removed from office over many issues which included his non-support for President Bola Tinubu.

According to the source, since Tinubu assumed office, some leaders within the party have been calling for his resignation threatening to remove him at the next National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting if he fails to resign.

The party’s NEC meeting was initially billed to hold July 10 and 11 but was postponed to Tuesday and Wednesday this week due to the president’s international engagements.

The source further revealed that the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu was one of the people who told Adamu to resign because he had become a liability to the party.

He was however forced to step down as the party chairman after Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodinma told him that if he didn’t resign, they will remove him at the next NEC meeting.

Those who are calling for Adamu’s resignation accused him of working against the President during the party’s presidential primaries, publicly supporting former Senate President, Ahmed Lawan and failing to fully back Tinubu even after securing the party’s ticket.

Adamu was also accused of mismanaging the party’s funds.

Senator Abubakar Kyari, Deputy National Chairman (North) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has emerged as acting National Chairman of the party.

Kyari took over from Senator Abdullahi Adamu barely 24 hours after the latter resigned as the national chairman of the ruling party.

His ascension to the role is believed to be in consonance with the constitution of the party.

The party’s constitution states that if a national chairman resigns, the deputy national chairman from the region would take over in an acting capacity.

Meanwhile, Kyari is currently leading some members of the National Working Committee (NWC) into a meeting at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

According to Daily Trust, some of the party members present at the meeting include; Deputy National Chairman (South), Emma Enukwu; National Vice Chairman (North-West), Salihu Lukman; National Vice Chairman (North-East), Salihu Mustapha; National Vice Chairman (North Central), Muazu Bawa; National Vice Chairman (South-West), Issacs Kekemeke; National Vice Chairman (South-East), Ejoroma Arodiogu and the Deputy National Secretary, Barr. Festus Fuanter.

Meanwhile, Honourable Bernard Mikko, former governorship aspirant in Rivers State under the umbrella of the All Progressives Party(APC), aired his opinions on the resignation of party chairman Abdullahi Adamu, stating that members of the party have long expected his resignation due to his lack of neutrality in party politics.

In an interview with ARISE NEWS, Honourable Mikko stated that not only is he satisfied with the resignation of the chairman but he had also expected him to “throw in the towel” immediately after the inauguration of the president because he had worked against Tinubu’s candidature.

“First of all, there is no crisis in our party, the APC. The second one is that his resignation should not come as a surprise. It’s even belated. You know how a leader emerges will determine how he’s going to lead his people.

“In politics you align the policies and programmes of government or the ruling party to orientation. This chairman has shown from the beginning his preferences other than the preferences of stakeholders of the party.

“From the beginning, he has shown that he is not a democrat in the spirit of party politics. As chairman of the party, having emerged as national chairman, he should have shown neutrality from the beginning but he never showed it, he came up trying to build consensus around his own preferred candidate who didn’t win.

“What is expected at that point was for him to throw in the towel and say look, ‘I prefer someone else, but the person didn’t win’ but he worked against the emergence of Bola Tinubu when tinubu emerged as the preferred candidate.

“He also worked against his candidature as candidate of the party. Now our President has won, and he has no choice. He doesn’t believe in the capability of the party and even the president to lead the country. I think what he should have done immediately after the inauguration of the president, is to throw in his towel. It’s good development in the government. It would even foster party unity.

“I think he should be a statesman as he has done. I didn’t expect that he should be coarsed into resigning from his position.

“I’m happy and majority of party holders are happy that he has gone for good.”

Allegation against the chiarman state that he had misappropriated the party’s finances. Sources from THISDAY claimed that a list of Adamu’s “sins” had been created as directed and sent to Tinubu who is in Kenya and due back on Monday.

According to a different party source, a group of party members met with Adamu Sunday night and convinced him to quit rather than be escorted out of the NEC meeting, which they believed would be too embarrassing.

According to Honourable Bernard, the only way to attest to allegations are to either perform an audit on party finances, or look into reports of the party mechanism by questioning adamu to give accounts.

“The national secretary of the party has written a letter. One that has been made public that the running of the party, particularly about the finances, has been very opaque and non-transparent.

“Nobody knows what is happening. The party hardly calls meetings and all that. So if the secretary of the party has raised an alarm about how the party has been run under him, I think it’s obvious that the finances of the party has been mismanaged. And to that extent, he knows the rules. He was governor before, he has been in the senate; he knows the oversight functions of members, not only the members of NWC. But the party supporters know how the party is run; they know how the finances of the party are being filtered away for no just cause.

“I think if that allegation has been made against him, he knows and I think the party can now go out and do a proper audit of the finances of the party.

“We shouldn’t let party leaders who have done this kind of thing to get away scot-free, so that they don’t just come and go away. Let him be called back, even after he has left to account for what he has done.

“He has shown his true colour that he cannot handle public finances at all.”