Kano State Governor Abdulahi Ganduje said Wednesday that President Muhammadu Buhari’s choice of former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole as national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is democratic.
The President concurred with APC governors at a meeting on Tuesday night on their proposal to support Oshiomhole for chairman at the May 14 national convention.
Reacting to a statement from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that Buhari was trying to impose Oshiomhole, Ganduje told reporters after a meeting of some governors with the members of the National Working Committee (NWC), that “there is no imposition at all”. “Everybody is free to contest just as everybody is free to hold an opinion on who should lead the party. I don’t think that there is any case of imposition because it is not a guideline and not part of the constitution.
“Just like every other person, Mr President has the right to air his opinion, but that does not mean he should stop any person who will like to contest from contesting. Mr President’s opinion is not constitutional and it is not a non-constitutional opinion as well.
“He just voiced out his thought which will serve as a guideline to some… The issue of being undemocratic does not even arise. There is what we call guided democracy and we regard what Mr President said as such. If that is what will make the party stable and avoid the fallout after the election like we saw in the PDP, it will be better for us.”
On the outcome of the meeting, the governor said besides the timetable for convention and congresses, the meeting agreed that zoning will be maintained for party officers, “but the only clause is that they should go and discuss with those governors in charge of the zones where the officers should come from.
“For example, the chairman of the party will have to come from the Southsouth, the secretary from the Northeast and all other positions like that. We have resolved all issues amicably. The NWC will have to get back to us in a week’s time.”
