The National Vice Chairman, North-West, of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Salihu Lukman, has said it is potentially risky and damaging to President Bola Tinubu and Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) to have allegedly decided on Dr Abdullahi Ganduje as the next National Chairman of the party without consulting other power blocs and meeting any of the organs of the party, including the National Working Committee (NWC).

To this end, he appealed to all those sponsoring the campaign to nominate Ganduje for the position of APC National Chairman, especially PGF Chairman, Senator Hope Uzodinma, to allow due process within the party to take its rightful course in the selection process.

Lukman, in a statement issued Sunday, reminded President Tinubu and APC Governors that the agreed zoning formula in the party ceded the position of National Chairman to North-Central.

He noted that the inability to revive statutory organs of the party would suggest that the process of replacing existing vacancies will be manipulated to suit some narrow interests within the party, even if it means violating provisions of the APC constitution.

According to him, “As NWC members, we must be seen to be active in the debate of the way forward. A situation whereby President Asiwaju Tinubu and Progressive Governors are being alleged to have decided on Dr. Ganduje as the next National Chairman of APC without consulting other power blocs in the party and without meeting any of the organs of the party, including the NWC, is very risky and potentially damaging to President Asiwaju Tinubu and the party.”

Lukman stressed that if this is associated with a President who comes from a military background, it will be understandable, but to be associated with Tinubu, whose background is outrightly civilian, having to lead the struggle for democracy in Nigeria for almost four decades, would be highly unimaginable.

He said: “We must therefore appeal to all those sponsoring this campaign to nominate Dr. Ganduje for the position of APC National Chairman, especially His Excellency, Hope Uzodinma, Chairman, Progressive Governors Forum, to come to order and allow due process within the party to take its rightful course in the selection process of who becomes the next APC National Chairman.

“Nobody, including the PGF, should be allowed to seek to entrench arbitrariness and injustice in the determination of who emerges as the next National Chairman of APC.

“We must remind everyone, including President Asiwaju Tinubu that so far, the agreed zoning formula in APC seed the position of National Chairman of the party to North Central.”