The former All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) bloc within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has issued a condition to President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections, threatening to leave the party if their demands are not met.
Speaking at a Monday press conference in Abuja, National Coordinator Prof. Vitalis Ajumbe read their resolution: “A few hours ago, we concluded the leadership meeting of the association of former ANPP members of the APC on behalf of millions of our members across the country, where we reviewed issues concerning our membership of the All Peoples Congress, APC.”
The group alleges marginalization since the 2015 merger, stating: “The ANPP bloc in APC, suffered serious political marginalisation/segregation under late General Muhammadu Buhari as our President for the 8 years of his reign.” They particularly criticized Buhari’s treatment of his former political home: “Late Muhammadu Buhari’s abandonment of ANPP where his political career as a member of ANPP started and secured presidential tickets when he ran twice, was quite inhumane.”
Drawing comparisons between administrations, Ajumbe stated: “Our ordeal under Buhari was that President Buhari wasn’t a well-groomed politician like the incumbent President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu who started with parish pump politics, to his current status in Nigerian politics.”
The bloc made their 2027 demand clear: “We call on President Bola Tinubu, to ensure that the Vice Presidential seat is made sacrosanct for the ANPP block in the governing APC for the 2027 Presidential election as millions of the former ANPP members across the country who voted massively for the current.” They added a stark warning: “The ticket you are serving will be disappointed if you choose another person outside the ANPP block in APC as your vice President.”
Recalling the original merger terms, they explained: “When our late national chairman, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu initiated this move to bring ACN, CPC and ANPP together to form a mega Party, our desire then was to form a mega Party that would, not only defeat PDP, but also to give Nigerians good governance.”
Detailing the initial power-sharing arrangement: “In the unanimously adopted formula for the sharing of the Party positions, the interim National Chairman was allocated to ACN as it had six serving governors in six states, ANPP which had three governors in three states, was allocated the position of interim National Secretary. The CPC, which had one governor, was allocated the position of National Treasurer.”
The group lamented their current status: “We hoped for better days ahead in APC, but the reverse is now the case.”They emphasized their political worth: “ANPP bloc in APC which parades seasoned and tested politicians like, the Vice President of Nigeria, Senator Kashim Shettima, serving governors like Professor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State and Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, former governors like Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, Senator Yarima Bakura, Senator Alimodu Sheriff, Senator Adamu Aliero, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, Senator Abdulazeez Yari, Alhaji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafiโฆ”
Their statement concluded with a philosophical reflection on political equity: “If politics is truly about equity, justice and fair play, members of the ANPP bloc in the APC should have been given sensitive political positions under President Buhari as the second largest partner of the merger, but we were not, but rather, subjected to nihility and political redundancy.”
Discussion about this post