A coalition of civil society organisations, under the aegis of Conference of Nigeria Civil Rights Activists, has urged the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, to obey the calls for his resignation in the interest of equity, fairness and justice.
The CNCRA said Adamu’s exit as APC National Chairman would ensure power balancing in the incoming Bola Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress-led government.
The group gave the commendation in a statement signed by its convener, Ifeanyi Odili, and Secretary, Sina Akadiri, which was made available to journalists in Abuja on Sunday.
The rights activists said Adamu’s resignation would also be a great opportunity for the APC to assuage the feelings of Christians towards the same faith arrangement of the party in the recently concluded presidential election.
The CNCRA urged that the national chairman should leave the stage honourably in a bid to balance the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the president-elect, Bola Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima.
The National Vice-President, Salihu Lukman, had in a statement titled “APC Internal Dynamics and the Future of Democracy,” issued at the weekend, stressed that the National Chairman of the party must resign to give way to a Christian leader.
The CNCRA said “Adamu should toe the path of honour and statesmanship by tendering his letter of resignation after the Governorship and House Assembly elections.
“His action would be welcomed and commended by the Christians and it will also pave the way for the emergence of a ranking senator from North Central, to become either the President or Deputy President of the Senate in the forthcoming 10th National Assembly.”
The right activists noted that they were elated when they heard about the patriotic call by Lukman urging the former governor of Nasarawa State to sacrifice his position in the interest of peace, unity and harmony.
The CNCRA said it acknowledged the immense contributions of Adamu and the North Central geopolitical zone towards the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections.
It noted that the ruling APC should compensate the region by making sure that a dependable, loyal and ranking senator emerges as either the president or deputy senate president in the 10th National Assembly.
They noted that “with the emergence of the president-elect and his vice from the South West and North-East geopolitical zones of Nigeria, it will be fair and just, for the APC to zone the National Assembly’s presiding officers’ positions to the North-Central, North-West, South-East and the South-South geopolitical zones.
“In terms of marginalisation, the popular opinion in Nigeria is that the South-East and the North-Central have not produced either the nation’s president or vice president since the return of democracy in 1999.”
The statement further noted that the South-West produced the president between 1999 and 2007 with a North-Easterner as vice president.
They said, “It is now clear that the race for the position of the senate presidency should be between the North Central and the South East which has never produced either the president or vice president.
“We, therefore, urge the National Chairman of the APC, senator Adamu Abdullahi, to step aside as a man of honour, and lead the campaign for the emergence of a presiding officer of the Senate from the North Central.”
The CNCRA added that it would appreciate it if senator Abdullahi Adamu would demonstrate statesmanship by offering to resign his appointment to maintain his highly respected honour and integrity.
The group remarked that they have carefully studied all the ranking senators-elect from the North-Central and discovered that senator Sani Musa, from the Niger east senatorial district, is eminently qualified and should be considered as a Senate presiding officer based on his competence and loyalty to the party.
“The ranking senator, who is the chairman committee on senate services, has garnered enough parliamentary leadership experience having worked closely with the incumbent president of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, in the last four years.
“He has no criminal record hanging on his neck and he is well-loved and respected by his colleagues both within the National Assembly and the APC family in general.
“We believe that he would offer the country his best and do everything possible to stabilise the incoming administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, through effective parliamentary legislation and oversight that would curb revenue leakages and tackle insecurity among others.”
