Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, was suspended on Sunday by a faction in the Ganduje Ward of the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area in Kano State.

This was highlighted on Sunday when North-Central APC stakeholders urged at a news conference in Abuja that the zone be given party chaimanship.

The national chairman was suspended by some party leaders alongside Ganduje’s Ward Legal Advisor Haladu Gwanjo, according to a report.

The ward leaders stated that nine executive members of the APC ward made the decision, which was predicated on a $413,000 bribery prosecution against Ganduje by the Kano State Government.

A Kano State High Court order prohibiting Ganduje from posing as the APC national chairman was swiftly issued in response to the action on Wednesday.

While visiting the party’s national headquarters, the ward leaders, however, distanced themselves from Ganduje’s suspension and stated that they had not filed a lawsuit with the Kano State High Court.

They claimed that the state’s government, led by the New Nigeria Peoples Party, was responsible for the suspension.

However, the national chairman obtained an injunction from the Justice A.M. Liman-presiding Federal High Court in Kano, which placed the Kano State High Court’s order on hold.

After Ganduje filed an exparte motion to uphold his fundamental right to a fair trial, the decision was made.

However, an opposing group within the Ganduje ward, claiming to be the official executive members, harshly criticized the chairman’s latest suspension in the early hours of Sunday.

Speaking to reporters in Kano on behalf of 11 other executive members, the faction’s secretary, Ja’afar Ganduje, blamed Ganduje’s purported anti-party actions for the suspension.

The APC national chairman, according to the factional secretary, has not fulfilled his legal obligations to the party.

He said, “We are the authentic executive members of Ganduje ward and we have passed a vote of no confidence and imposed a new suspension on Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje for a series of reasons.

“First, we have suspended Dr Ganduje’s membership for creating internal conflict among party members at the ward level.

“Another major reason why the authentic executive members resolved to suspend Ganduje is the issue of anti-party activities he generated during the 2023 elections which resulted in the party’s failure in the state.”

Reacting, the executive members called out the faction as impostors in a statement jointly signed by Ganduje ward Chairman Ahmed Ganduje and Secretary Usaini Jibrin, respectively.

They maintained that they are the legitimate executive members of the APC and insisted that neither the national nor state bodies had not held any new elections to select a new leadership.

They further claimed that the Kano State administration, led by the NNPP, had organized yet another “bunch of non-APC members” with the intention of embarrassing the APC national chairman in order to get him suspended.

The statement partly read, “To the best of our knowledge, as executive members of Ganduje ward of the APC, there was no new election of new leadership of our party. We remain the same executive of the ward.

“The sponsored group couldn’t do their homework properly by using a fake or uncertified headed paper on which they drew a list of non-existing party executive members.

“To worsen their situation, the leader of the group who announced the purported suspension is an NNPP member who contested but lost the councillorship election in Ganduje ward.

“We called on the national body of the party and security agencies to facilitate the arrest and persecution of the group for impersonation and attempting to cause disaffection in the party. We implore all our party members to disregard such propaganda aimed at disrupting the party.”

In the meantime, a few North Central APC stakeholders have asked that the APC leadership seat be moved back to their region.

The disgruntled APC veterans said to reporters in Abuja on Sunday that Ganduje’s purported imposition on the party was inconsiderate and a blatant disregard for the party’s zoning procedure.

The Ganduje, a politician from North-West, was chosen to succeed Abdullahi Adamu, the party’s immediate past national chairman, who is from their region, according to Muhammad Etsu, Coordinator of Concerned North-Central APC stakeholders.

In order to correct the problem and maintain Ganduje’s suspension while attempts were underway to return the seat to their zone, Etsu appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the APC National Executive Committee.

He said, “We call on all party leaders and stakeholders to support the North-Central aspiration. This would strengthen the party, unite all interests and pave the way for a formidable APC that will consolidate its position across the board.

“Significantly, we also call on people of conscience to prevail on the ruling party to obey the order of the High Court of Kano state restraining and prohibiting Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje from presiding over the affairs of APC pending the hearing and determination of the interlocutory injunction.

“This is to avoid sending the wrong signal to Nigerians that the party is anarchic, lawless and deviates from its Constitution.

“That is why we are calling on the President, and the NEC of our party to immediately swing into action by repositioning the APC and ensuring an inclusive remake of the NWC where the North Central Zone regains the position of the National Chairman of the party which it lost after the resignation of erstwhile Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.”

Sunny Sylvester, an APC leader from Adamawa, supported the agitation of the North-Central stakeholders by stating that it was the proper thing to do.

After the press conference, Sylvester informed our correspondent that just because some significant opposition parties are breaking the law, it doesn’t mean the ruling party can’t follow suit.

He said, “This position belongs to the North-Central. It was zoned to them and one will expect to retain the seat after Abdullahi Adamu left the party.”

Disagreeing with Ganduje’s request for the status quo on all sides, Sylvester was cautioned that the situation might potentially escalate to contempt of court.

“No, Ganduje secured the injunction from a court of concurrent jurisdiction instead of going to the very court where the first exparte order was given. It was wrong. The court said he should restrain from parading himself as the national chairman. He should comply.

“In other words, what we are saying is ‘give this seat back to the North-Central’ where it belongs. That is the agreement. The zone itself comprises several states.

“I am not from North-Central. But as a concerned party stakeholder from Adamawa State in the North East, I feel the right thing should be done.

“The same thing happened when Iyorchia Ayu of the PDP was removed, his zone demanded his seat. We all know what follows. But we are saying the APC should do things right. We should not be like them,” he stated.

However, Bala Ibrahim, the Director of Publicity for the APC, holds a different opinion.

Ibrahim maintained the national chairman was being persecuted only for the purpose of mocking the legal system and the courts.

He said, “Where an order is issued by the court for status quo ante to be maintained, you can’t have people doing things in the reverse.

“It is not just a contempt of court but total disregard to the judiciary and, by extension, to the national anthem of the country. It is now moving away from politics to brigandage.

“I think some people are trying to show that even though they came to power via the pronouncement of the court, they have no respect for the court.

“Whoever is behind this should be called to order by way of a serious sanction. The law is common sense and sensibly applied. Now common sense should tell you where they say ‘maintain status quo’ until the substance of the matter is heard.

“Even though Dr Abdullahi Ganduje said controversy and politics go hand in hand, he also admitted that there are three underlying factors – reality, morality and legality.

“As long as reality is not overthrown by morality and legality, everything is going to be alright. The reality on the ground is that he is in total control of the party.

“He is the national chairman and respectable leader of the APC. Anybody who is not happy with that should go to court and not engage in underground shenanigans that will ridicule him at the end of the day. Ganduje and Oshiomhole’s cases are incomparable. This one is political rascality taken too far.”

Chief Oliver Okpala, Senior Special Assistant to the APC National Chairman on Public Enlightenment’s , also had the same view.

He says that individuals escalating the party’s problems clearly require psychological assessment.

He said, “Their main aim is to be causing distraction and crisis thereby derailing having a return to civilian rule and the practice of democratic process in the country.

“Secondly, under judicial practice, these people are supposed to be committed to prison custody for contempt of court.

“Remember there is a definite order from a Federal High Court that the status quo should be maintained by all and sundry in favour of Ganduje and the furtherance of his fundamental human rights.

“Now, how can any person or group violate such order in the name of being a faction? As earlier said, these people are violating a subsisting court order.”