By Uche Amunike
There has been great controversy in the camp of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), as her National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu has reportedly resigned from his position, Sunday night.
According to a report by the Daily Trust Newspaper, Adamu refused to speak on his purported resignation as President Tinubu was still on his Kenyan trip, attending the 5th Mid-Year Coronation Meeting. He maintained that he would not speak on the issue, until the president returned.
On Monday morning, however, The Daily Trust Newspaper reported that the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, submitted his letter of resignation to the Chief of Staff to the president, Femi Gbajabiamila, stating that their news sources were credible.
When approached, spokesperson to the APC, Felix Morka, neither confirmed nor denied the report. All efforts made to reach Gbajabiamila, before press time, also proved abortive.
On his part, the APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, said that he could neither deny nor confirm Adamu’s purported resignation, as he merely read about it in the news, just like most Nigerians.
As for former Minister of Labour, Festus Keyamo, he promised to get back with the true situation, didn’t do so, as at the time of filing this report.
According to The Punch Newspaper report, a source from the NWC expressed their disappointment that Adamu did not find it worthy to address them before tendering his letter of resignation.
Hear him: ‘We just heard the news this evening too like every other person, that the chairman has resigned. I understand it was a directive from the presidency. I learnt it was the Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodinma, who personally handed over the president’s letter to him.’
‘But we find his action demeaning. He could have, at least, briefed us as members of the same NWC before taking the decision.’
‘With his resignation, I don’t think he will be at the meeting tomorrow. In his absence, the Deputy National Chairman for North, Senator Abubakar Kyari, will take over in line with the Constitution. It is the norm that once a National Chairman resigns, the Deputy National Chairman from his zone will take over in an acting capacity. Although we can’t have the official confirmation until tomorrow, my sources are very reliable,’ he said.
Recall that during the run-up to the presidential convention of the party, on June 8, 1922, the APC Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu fully supported the former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.
According to reports, he presented Lawan to former President Buhari, as the consensus candidate for the APC. However, the APC governors truncated his efforts to get Buhari’s support by allegedly informing him that they were not in support of Adamu’s plot against Tinubu.
When he was recently asked about not supporting Tinubu’s ambition, during an interview on Arise TV, Adamu stated that it was his prerogative to support whoever he wanted and waved off the speculations about his rift with President Tinubu as mere rumour.
On his plans to stop Tinubu from becoming the party’s candidate, he replied: ‘I think that’s a soft selling point for you media people. It is true that at the time that I made a presentation to the National Working Committee, the name of Senator Ahmed Lawan was thrown up.’
‘That was before the convention. So many things took place between then and the actual date of the convention and you saw what culminated in the convention unanimously. I was there and I led the convention of the party.’
‘A day after the convention, I took the entire working committee to his (Tinubu’s) house in Asokoro and assured him of our support and said we would stand shoulder to shoulder with him and ensure that the mandate was sold properly to the people of Nigeria. We won the election. Instead of being praised, we are vilified,’ he said.
Prior to his emergence as. The APC National Chairman In March 2022, Abdullahi Adamu was the senator representing Nasarawa West. He was also the Nasarawa State governor between 1999 and 2007.
