APC Chairmanship: Al-Malkura, Musa Reject Adamu As Consensus Candidate

It was gathered that the former Nasarawa governor, who joined the chairmanship race last week, will take over from Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni after party delegates ratify his appointment at the national convention.

Reacting to the development, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura has rejected the endorsement of his predecessor by President Buhari and the governors as the next party chairman.

The former governor said the reports of the Adamu’s endorsement are just speculations and propaganda, urging his supporters to ignore such news.

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Segun Tomo, the former Nasarawa governor stated that he remains the aspirant to beat at the convention.

The statement reads: “The reports are just speculations and propaganda making the rounds in some news outlets that President Muhammadu Buhari has endorsed the candidacy of Sen. Abdullahi Adamu as the next Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Therefore, we decided to respond and set the records straight.

“Information at our disposal indicates that what transpired at the meeting of the Governors with the President was the ratification of the new convention date and agreement on the zoning formula. On the issue of who becomes Chairman, the President asked that consultations continue to produce a credible and widely accepted choice as a consensus candidate.”

On his part, a national chairmanship aspirant from Niger State, Senator Sani Musa, reminded the party that consensus candidacy does not amount to imposition, which he said could breed discontent and crisis.

He urged his supporters and party faithful to dispel the said report of the choice of Adamu as a consensus candidate, describing the report as untrue and baseless.

In a statement issued by his campaign organisation on Thursday, Musa asked his supporters to only accept news and information coming from the official party sources.

The statement noted: “The Sani Musa campaign organization commends President Muhammadu Buhari for not taking sides with any of the aspirants and his insistence on the use of consensus in the election of national officers in the national convention. By this pronouncement, Mr President has upheld the foundation of the All Progressives Congress’ constitution of participative democracy, consensus-oriented, equity and inclusiveness.

“Furthermore, Article 20 (i) (a) of the APC Constitution also gives room for the emergence of candidates through consensus with a proviso that “a vote of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ should be called to ensure that it was not an imposition which could breed discontent and crisis.

“The consensus process has since been adopted to elect national officers and members of the executive and national working committee of the APC in 2014 and in 2018 respectively. This procedure has helped the party in aggregating interests; ensuring the input of every participant is carefully considered and there is a good faith effort to address all legitimate concerns.”