A senator representing Nasarawa West, Abdullahi Adamu, has been elected as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The convention exercise was coordinated by Muhammadu Badaru, governor of Jigawa.
Using the voice vote system, the APC delegates at the convention approved Adamu as the new national chairman of the party.
The vote was taken late into Saturday night.
Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State, who had emerged as a consensus candidate, was not among those who initially expressed interest in the chairmanship position. However, he was later drafted into the race by the Presidency and some governors.
The persuasion and insistence by the President for Adamu’s emergence forced other aspirants for the national chairmanship position to grudgingly step down on Saturday, a report said.
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Following the emergence of Adamu as the party’s national chairman, facts emerged on Saturday night on how leaders of the party across the country arrived at the consensus candidates for the various party positions.
The candidates, who made the Unity List compiled by the party leaders and various stakeholders, were ratified at the convention.
The list emerged shortly before the President arrived at the convention. The most prominent on the list was Adamu.
Apart from Adamu, a former deputy governor of Osun State, Iyiola Omisore, was named as the party’s national secretary.
The ratified executives include Senator Abubakar Kyari (Borno State) as the Deputy National Chairman (North), Emma Eneukwu (Enugu State) as the Deputy National Chairman (South), Festus Fuanter (Deputy National Secretary), Muhazu Rijau (National Vice Chairman, North-Central), Mustapha Salihu (National Vice Chairman, North-East), Salihu Lukman (National Vice Chairman, North-West), Ijeoma Arodiogwu (National Vice Chairman, South-East), Victor Giadom (National Vice Chairman, South-South), and Isaac Kekemeke (National Vice Chairman, South-West).
Others are Ahmed El-Marzuk (National Legal Adviser), Uguru Ofoke (National Treasurer), Bashir Gumel (Financial Secretary), Suleiman Argungu (National Organising Secretary), Beta Edu (National Woman Leader), Abdullahi Israel (National Youth Leader), Tolu Bankole (Special Persons Leader), F.N Nwosu (National Welfare Secretary), Felix Morka (National Publicity Secretary), Abubakar Maikafi (National Auditor), Bashir Gumel (National Financial Secretary), Ibrahim Salawu (Deputy National Legal Adviser) and Omorede Osifo (Deputy National Treasurer).
Earlier on Saturday, six national chairmanship aspirants: George Akume (Benue State), Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa), Abdul’Aziz Yari (Zamfara), Sani Musa (Niger), Saliu Mustapha (Kwara) and Etsu Muhammed (Niger) stepped down for Adamu.
Two members of the Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee, Ken Nnamani, a former Senate President, and Ismail Ahmed, a former National Youth Leader, both of whom were to contest positions at the convention lost out.
Nnamani lost to Enaukwu as the Deputy National Chairman (South) while Ahmed lost the National Organising Secretary position to Argungu from Kebbi State. Enaukwu, a former national officer with the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party and the Congress for Progressives Change, was the National Vice Chairman (South-East) of the APC under Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and Adams Oshiomhole leadership.
