The All Progressives Congress (APC) North Central Forum (NCF) has applauded President Bola Tinubu for heeding its call to convene a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party to plan for the national convention.
Speaking with newsmen in Jos, the forum’s chairman, Alhaji Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, said the president had canvassed for the meeting through a letter from his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to the national chairman, Umar Ganduje, to be held in September.
According to Zazzaga, the president, in the letter, opted for either September 8 or 19 for the NEC meeting, saying their excitement was that the North Central APC had been calling the attention of the president to intervene in several issues in the party, hence the need for the national convention.
Zazzaga who was also a member of the Presidential Campaign Council in the last election said the NEC meeting is a stepping stone towards the convention which they had been looking forward to in order to ventilate some of their grievances, especially from the North Central region.
“Our role in the APC from the from the North Central perspective right from the 2015 election to the 2023 election was very critical towards the success of the party at the polls.
“Hence, we will not spare any effort to pursue our cause and do things that will generally uplift the North Central zone, while we will continue to deepen our loyalty to the APC in general and continue working for the success of the party in one way or the other.
“Besides the strong contributions of the North Central to the development and sustenance of the APC over the years, as well as the tremendous support we gave to the emergence of President Bola Tinubu as president, the region has also delivered five governors for the APC out of the six states in the North Central region.
“Apart from Plateau State which is of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Kwara, Niger, Benue, Kogi and Nasarawa states are of the APC, and therefore the North Central region has made a strong statement on its achievements for the party and therefore deserves to be listened to and given its due respect and request,” the forum said.
“And our demand from the North Central is a well-known fact. The North Central APC Forum, along with various leaders and chieftains of the APC from the region, have been intensifying the push for the zoning of the National Chairmanship position of the party to the region, because that position is well deserved by the region owing to its contribution and it is our constitutional right, as well as the party arrangement,” it added.