Before joining the race for the chairmanship seat, Mr Adamu was appointed in September 2021 as the chairman of a nine-member National Reconciliation Committee of the APC.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has ratified the election of the consensus candidate for the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, and several others aspirants whose names are in the ‘unity list.’
The Governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar Badaru, made the announcement around midnight on Saturday, after putting the name of Mr Adamu to a voice vote.
Other chairmanship aspirants – Tanko Almakura, Salihu Mustapha, Mohammed Etsu, Abdulaziz Yari, Sani Muhammed and George Akume – had earlier announced their withdrawal from the race.
Mr Adamu
After serving two terms as governor of Nasarawa State, Mr Adamu was elected senator for Nasarawa West under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011. He was later appointed a member of the party’s board of trustees. However, he dumped the PDP for the now ruling APC in 2013.
Before joining the race for the chairmanship seat, Mr Adamu was appointed in September 2021 as the chairman of a nine-member National Reconciliation Committee of the APC.
While much cannot be said to have been achieved by the committee in appeasing aggrieved party members across the country, especially after the state congresses, his role in the ‘reconciliation’ of two of the leading political figures in Gombe State cannot be denied.
However, Mr Adamu carries some baggage. He was charged to court in 2010 by the EFCC alongside 19 other Nasarawa state officials with 149 counts of corruption. The commission accused him of embezzling N15 billion. He was later discharged by the court in 2016.
Other seats
Mr Badaru also announced that the former President of the Senate, Ken Nnamani, also stepped down for Emmanuel Joseph for the Deputy National Chairman (South), making the latter the winner of the seat.
The seat of the Deputy National Secretary was unopposed as Festus Fuanter was the only aspirant for the position, and was declared the winner after it was put to a voice vote by Mr Badaru. However, it took some pleading before the aspirants for the Deputy National Chairman (North) agreed to the consensus arrangement.
Earlier, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, announced his withdrawal from the race and endorsed Abubakar Kyari. Other candidates like Abubakar Gieri and Sunny Monnidafe withdrew from the race after the appeal by Mr Badaru.