The new National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje, will on Tuesday meet members of the National Working Committee in what will be his first official assignment as the leader of the party.
The meeting is coming barely one week after the former governor of Kano State was ratified at the 12th National Executive Committee meeting of the ruling party at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.
Aside from Ganduje, the spokesperson for the ninth Senate, Ajibola Basiru, was also ratified as the new national secretary of the APC during Thursday’s NEC meeting.
A party chieftain, who craved anonymity, explained that the Kano State politician would chair his first meeting at the national headquarters of the party on Tuesday.
He said, “We are having an NWC meeting on Tuesday. It will be Ganduje’s first official meeting.
“I am sure it is an effort on his part to get familiar with the committee members in a more relaxed atmosphere following the stress of the NEC meeting that approved his appointment. Basiru has also promised to make himself available for the meeting.”
On what will be the possible agenda for the meeting, the party chieftain disclosed that priority would be given to appointing officers for the vacant positions in the NWC.
Apart from the national chairman and secretary positions which were replaced by NEC on Thursday, there are six vacant positions in the NWC that need to be filled, including the office of the national legal adviser who resigned on Thursday.
The erstwhile national legal adviser of the party, Ahmed El-Marzuq, resigned from his position in the NWC.
In a statement signed by his special adviser, AbdulHalim Adamu, El-Marzuq attributed his resignation to the emergence of Ganduje and Ajibola as national chairman and national secretary respectively.
Six positions are currently vacant in the NWC due to the death of a member, the resignation of three officers, and the nomination of two committee members for ministerial appointment.
Deputy National Chairman (North), Abubakar Kyari; and National Women Leader, Betta Edu are ministerial nominees; National Vice Chairman (North West), Salihu Lukman; National Legal Adviser, Ahmed Usman El-Marzuk; and Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Muritala Ajaka resigned from their positions while the office of the National Welfare Secretary became vacant following the demise of the occupant early this year.
A member of the party’s NEC confirmed that the emergence of the new National Chairman from North West, a position earlier occupied by the North Central, informed the rearrangement of the zoning pattern.
The position of National Chairman hitherto zoned to North Central moved to North West while the Deputy National Chairman (North) and National Secretary are still being retained in the North East and South West respectively.
APC NEC also retained the position of National Welfare Secretary and the National Women Leader in the South East and South South.
To appease the North Central for losing the National Chairmanship seat to North West, a compromise was reached at the NEC meeting to zone the office of the National Legal Adviser (which was occupied by the North West) to North Central.
