The North Central Forum of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has said clarified on why several leaders and organs of the party have continued to endorse President Bola Tinubu without mentioning the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima.
In a statement issued on Monday in defence of the national chairman of the APC over the incident that took place in Gombe on Sunday when a fracas broke out over the non-inclusion of the Vice President on the endorsement list, the forum stated that only the President reserves the right to chose who will be his running mate.
Fight had broken out in Gombe when Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State demanded that Vice President Shettima be endorsed for a second term alongside President Bola Tinubu since both of them contested on a joint ticket in the 2023 presidential election.
The position of Governor Zulum prompted a serious uproar as hundreds of party members who were at the Gombe event started throwing things at the national chairman of the party and Northeast Zonal Chairman, Comrade Mustapha Salihu, accusing the duo of working against the Vice President.
However, the North Central APC Forum statement signed by its Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the forum stated that, “It is the prerogative of the President to nominate his Vice President. Nobody is going to force President Bola Tinubu to choose who should be his Vice President; it is left for him to nominate whoever he feels he can work with.
“We are condemning the action of Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, for mobilizing thugs to attack the National Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje. Ganduje is innocent, he was discharging his constitutionally required duties as party national chairman.
“It is not the national chairman’s responsibility to nominate a Vice President. It is also not his responsibility to endorse anyone for Vice President. As a party official, he is meant to be neutral and he displayed his neutrality at the North-East stakeholders meeting.
“We, the North-Central APC Forum, are asking the Governor of Borno State to apologize for mobilizing thugs against the National Chairman. Governor Babagana Zulum should apologize to Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, immediately.
“As stakeholders who are committed to the progress and development of the party, we are not happy with the conduct of the governor of Borno State.”
The Nort Central APC also revealed its demand for the shifting of the Vice Presidentb slot to the zone citing its electoral showing in the 2023 election. The Forum stated that the North Central were in the best position to demand the Vice President spot have given resident Tinubu more votes that the Northeast.
According to them, “It is on record that the opposition won in the North-East in 2023 even though the Vice President is from the zone. The North-Central gave the APC and Tinubu the third highest number of votes – behind the North-West and the South-West.
“So if any zone should feel entitled to special considerations, definitely it is not the North-East, which makes Governor Babagana Zulum’s action even more unfortunate.”
The controversy generated by the endorsement saga charged the situation in Gombe to the point that Governor Zulum had to be escorted out of the venue under heavy security protection.