Buhari turns down APC governors, insists on Adamu as next chairman

President Muhammadu Buhari has turned down the governors under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to change his mind about the choice of former Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Adamu as the next party national chairman.

The three governors were said to have tried to prevail on Buhari to change his mind during Tuesday’s meeting with other APC Governors.

The Governors, identified as one from the South-East, another from the South-West, and the last from the North-Central were said to be unhappy with the current arrangement and tried to get Buhari to change his mind on Adamu and also the zoning formula released by the party last week.

However, they were unable to get the President to change his mind according to a source who spoke on the details of Tuesday’s meeting between the APC Governors and President Buhari.

According to the Nation revealed that a section of the divided APC Governors Forum made efforts to stop the President from giving audience to their colleagues, who rejected Adamu and the zoning arrangement.

But, a few other governors with much influence prevailed on the President to go ahead with the session.

The division made the Chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni stay away from the meeting.

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The President made his position known on his choice at the meeting.

A source said: “At the meeting, the President disowned a fresh zoning arrangement proposed and presented by three governors and the names suggested for some offices.

“He reconfirmed the original zoning formula adopted by the PGF last week and insisted on Abdullahi Adamu as his choice for chairman at the convention. The three governors trying to alter the zoning formula were all crestfallen at the meeting today.

“Mai Mala Buni did not show up because he got wind of what was going to happen at our meeting with Mr President. Maybe, he didn’t want to be caught up in the crossfire of the divided PGF.

 “The three governors included one from the South-East, another from the South-West and the last from the North-Central. They were not happy that their influential colleagues even got the meeting scheduled.

“They and their agents in the villa did everything to block the meeting from holding but they did not succeed.”

The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) was led to the meeting at Aso Villa, Abuja by its chairman and Governor of Kebbi State, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu.

It was also gathered that the Southeast Caucus of the forum was also displeased with the zoning of the office of the party’s Secretary to the Southwest, instead of their region.

Although the Chairman of the PGF, according to sources, had told the Southeast caucus to take the arrangement as it has been put together, telling them that it was too late to change, The Nation gathered that the governors planned to refer the matter back to the PGF during its meeting Tuesday night in Abuja. The President and the governors agreed that the convention should hold on March 26.

Bagudu said the governors met with the president to congratulate him for signing the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and as well on the victory of the APC in some of the by-elections conducted over the weekend.

Other governors at the meeting included Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Aminu Masari (Katsina), Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Hope Uzodinma (Imo), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Sani Bello (Niger), Umar Ganduje (Kano), and outing deputy governor of Anambra State, Nkem Okeke.

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