Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the immediate past governor of Kano state, has been recommended to take over as the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ganduje visited the presidential palace on Wednesday and met with President Bola Tinubu and three APC governors.
Barring any last-minute alterations, Ganduje will serve as the ruling party’s temporary national chairman until the party’s convention later this year.
Politics Senator Abdullahi Adamu resigned as the party’s national chairman on Monday, July 17, according to Nigerian media, following a purported plot to depose him.
Adamu resigned alongside Iyiola Omisore, the national secretary.
Ganduje is expected to succeed Senator Abubakar Kyari, who was named acting national chairman on Monday.
According to reports, President Tinubu insisted on designating Ganduje, the party’s chairman, upon his return from the African Union (AU) meeting in Kenya.
Hope Uzodinma, governor of Imo state and chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), was approached to obtain approval from his colleagues and other key players.
On Tuesday, Uzodinma met with Ganduje, and on Wednesday, they both met with President Tinubu, as well as Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun.
A presidency source indicated during the meeting that Ganduje’s selection was finalized. Following that, President Buhari, three governors, and Ganduje met with Vice President Kashim Shettima.
“It was on Monday that the issue of making Ganduje the chairman of the party started when the chairman of the PGF met with him in Abuja. Uzodinma told the former Kano state governor [Ganduje] of the president’s intention to make him the party’s chairman,” a source told Daily Trust.
He stated that the matter was resolved when the president met with Ganduje and three governors on Wednesday night.