By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Following weeks of aborted moves and protests to remove the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, concerned chieftains of the party have explained the reason President Bola Tinubu steered clear of the drama.
The embattled chairman was purportedly suspended by the APC executive of Ganduje ward in the Dawakin Tofa Local Government of Kano State on April 15, a move that was quickly thwarted by the state chapters of the party, which suspended the ward executive.
The development resulted in legal tussles with the Kano State High Court granting an ex parte order restraining him from parading himself as a member of the party, leading to Ganduje securing a counter ex parte order from the Federal High Court in Kano presided over by Justice A. M. Liman, who ruled out the purported suspension.
A few days after the legal fireworks, scores of demonstrators stormed the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja to demand his resignation and allow the seat of the leadership, previously occupied by Abdullahi Adamu, to return to the North Central
However, supporters of the APC national chairman have expressed shock over the deafening silence of the president, who political observers believed was his ally and close friend.
Reacting in an interview with our correspondent, the APC Publicity Secretary for North-West, Musa Mada, pointed out that there was nothing suspicious about President Tinubu’s silence.
He said, “The whole thing (Ganduje’s purported suspension) is just speculation. If we look at it from 1999 to date, no president has proven to be more of a party man than Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
“His silence does not mean that he is not interested in the party. But he understands that the entire hullabaloo is more of a party affair. One thing people should know is that the moment you find a party so quiet, that party is insignificant.
“But where you find people agitating or fomenting trouble at a party, they are striving to get attention or seek some form of recognition. Tinubu is now the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, even though he is still a card-carrying member and leader of the APC. It is not everything he must react to because he doesn’t have the time. He has more important things to do.”
The APC chief also slammed the National Leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso for allowing his feud with the embattled chairman to degenerate into political blackmail and backbiting among Kano party faithful.
Mada claimed that he was aware that the only thing standing between Kwankwaso and his alleged desire to defect to the ruling APC was the presence of Ganduje as the leader of the party.
“Those fomenting trouble in Kano are of two factions. There are those of the APC extraction and others from the camp of Kwankwaso. If you have been following what is happening in the so-called Ganduje’s Ward, even we in the North know it was the handiwork of Kwankwaso in Kano.
“They are using that avenue to create propaganda. I believe Kwankwaso, as a statesman, should have done better because both of them have been together for about 40 years.”
But another APC chieftain, Sylvester Monidafe, did not share his sentiment.
He stated, “My concern is not about Ganduje himself, but the party and Tinubu’s legacy. I have known Tinubu since 2006 in the ACN days when I returned to active politics.
“We all saw how he stood up to President Olusegun Obasanjo when he tried to undermine the South West states. Basically all the governors except Tinubu fell for his tricks. He stood up to the man and said ‘No way’ before he formed the AD.
“I have been with this man for that long. We used to call him ‘the last man standing.’ He is politically astute and I don’t think he will allow Ganduje or anybody to soil his name.
“On the talks that the president may be attempting to throw him under the bus for Kwankwaso, I have no idea. But I know Tinubu would like to do the right thing. You may want to ask what the right thing is.”