President Muhammadu Buhari has endorsed Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State as the national chairman of All Progressives Congress, (APC), some sources claim.
The sources, including governors and former governors, claimed the president endorsed Adamu, who chaired the reconciliation committee of the party, during his meeting with APC governors at the State House on Tuesday.
With this arrangement, Sen. Adamu will take over from Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State who has been chairman Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) for 21 months.
Buni and other members of the caretaker committee of the party had come under unrelenting attacks from different quarters for shifting the national convention of the party severally.
However, sources said while personal ambition by some party members could not be ruled out, the Buni-led committee had been waiting to get the green light on the direction President Buhari and other powerful forces around the villa would want the party to take.
One of the sources said at the Tuesday meeting, Buhari told the governors that the party chairmanship position should be zoned to the North Central geopolitical zone.
“The president, at the brief meeting, told us that the party chairman should come from the North Central and that the person should be Senator Abdullahi Adamu. Nobody disagreed with him,” the governor said.
He said with presidential endorsement, all other aspirants vying for the chairmanship seat were expected to withdraw from the race.
“I think the nomination is in the best interest of the party because we need a national chairman that can match Ayu, the PDP chairman. From all angles, Senator Adamu has the capacity to tackle him and lead the party to victory,” he said.
Another source, a former governor confirmed the endorsement of the president saying, “He has endorsed Senator Adamu to be adopted by consensus as the next chairman of the APC.”
“Some of the APC governors initially nominated a former governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura; some nominated a former minister for Mines and Steel Development, Abubakar Bawa Bwari; some wanted the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume and others rooted for Senator Mohammed Sani Musa but the president told them he would like Abdullahi Adamu to become the chairman,” he said.
