The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) bloc in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has threatened to quit the party if they are denied the vice presidential slot in the 2027 elections.
They warned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to pick a non-ANPP candidate outside the bloc, adding that the bloc would quit the APC if its demand was not met.
The bloc, operating under the aegis of the Association of Former ANPP Members, made the demand in Abuja on Monday at a press briefing.
They said the Tinubu-led administration should include its members and ensure justice, regretting that their support for the formation and electoral victories of the APC has gone largely unrewarded.
Former ANPP Deputy National Chairman (South), Prof. Vitalis Orikeze Ajumbe, addressed the media in company of the former ANPP national publicity secretary, Dr Ibrahim Moddibo; immediate past APC national organising secretary; Barr. Emma Ibediro; former ANPP national legal adviser; and Barr. Salisu Fagge.
Others present include former ANPP national vice chairman (South East), Dr. Francis Egu; former ANPP BoT member, Chief Princess Dickson and former state chairmen including Mustafa Isyaku (Kano), Jeffrey Yilling (Plateau), Alhaji Yusuf Ali (Yobe), Mrs. Endurance Emo (Lagos), Alhaji Sani Shehu (Bauchi), Alhaji Saidu Inusa (Kano) and Alhaji Nura Kabir (Katsina).
Prof. Ajumbe told President Tinubu to protect the integrity of the power-sharing agreement whci gave birth to the APC in 2013, adding that “the ticket you are serving will be disappointed if you choose another person outside the ANPP bloc as your vice president,” Ajumbe warned.
He said their position was collective and born out of a sincere commitment to the cause of their contributions to the formation of the APC and its eventual success at the polls.
“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 Progressives Congress, APC.”
According to him, the late President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years of administration marginalized the ANPP bloc in the APC
“Our ordeal under Buhari was that he wasn’t a well-groomed politician like the incumbent president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who started with politics and rose to his current status in Nigerian politics.
“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 in the merger. But we were not—instead, we were subjected to nihility and political redundancy.
“The ANPP bloc in the APC parades seasoned and tested politicians like the Vice President of Nigeria, Senator Kashim Shettima; serving governors like Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State and Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State; former governors like Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, Senator Yarima Bakura, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, Senator Adamu Aliero, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, Senator Abdulazeez Yari, and Alhaji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi; as well as serving and former members of the National Assembly like Senator Ali Ndume, Senator Kawu Sumaila, Senator Barau Jibrin, Senator Mohammed Monguno, Senator Aliyu Lawal, and many members of the House of Representatives and state Houses of Assembly.”
He said of all the appointments Tinubu has made so far made – from ministerial to managerial, executive directorship, and other roles – the ANPP bloc in the APC has been conspicuously sidelined.
“The vice presidential seat remains sacrosanct for the former ANPP bloc in the APC as the second-largest contributor to the formation of the APC.
“Since the formation of the APC, the CPC bloc has ruled for eight years under the late President Buhari. The ACN bloc is currently occupying the presidency. Fairness and equity demand that our president should hand over power to the ANPP bloc when his tenure expires in 2031.”
