The Progressive Governors’ Forum has declared that the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, was a natural step in the party’s ongoing evolution.
The governors stated this in a communiqué they issued after their two-day strategic meeting in Benin City, Edo State, on Saturday.
According to the governors, the leadership change aligns with the party’s broader commitment to internal reforms and adaptation.
The Chairman of the PGF, Governor Hope Uzodimma, of Imo State read the communiqué at the close of the meeting, emphasising the forum’s dedication to strengthening party cohesion and promoting people-centred development.
Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State:s spokesperson, Fred Itua, signed the communique.
According to Uzodimma, “This meeting provided a crucial platform to harmonise development strategies, reinforce party cohesion, and reaffirm our Forum’s dedication to people-centred development, institutional accountability, and inter-governmental collaboration.
“The APC remains the most institutionally coherent political platform in Nigeria, with unmatched records of reforms, electoral success, and national unity, signalling the party’s confidence in its enduring appeal.”
He said the acknowledgement of Ganduje’s resignation as National Chairman was presented as a natural progression.
“His Excellency, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s resignation is in tandem with the party’s continued evolution,” the communiqué read, suggesting a strategic move within the party’s framework rather than a crisis. While no further details were immediately provided on the specifics of his departure, the emphasis on “evolution” hints at an internal repositioning to strengthen the party’s future.
A highlight of the meeting was the formal welcome of the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno, into the fold of the APC.
The Forum appreciates Eno’s defection, along with his supporters, as a reflection of “a growing national consensus on the transformative policies being executed by President Tinubu’s administration.”
The governors satisfaction with Nigeria’s economic, social, security, and political trajectory, and with the renewed coordination between federal and state institutions.
They particularly praised the prioritisation of fiscal reform, food security, energy transition, infrastructural modernisation, and social sector revitalisation.
“We are pleased with the renewed coordination between federal and state institutions, which is vital for national progress,” a governor who preferred anonymity remarked, stressing the importance of collaborative governance.
They also said the macroeconomic stabilisation policies such as fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification, and debt rationalisation, were effective, just as the Forum expressed support for a strategic pivot towards social equity and inclusive prosperity.
The governors, however, stressed that “while economic indicators show signs of recovery, growth must be further democratised through expanded investments in food security, job creation, poverty eradication, MSMEs, and social safety nets.”
The PGF reaffirmed the critical role of sub-national governments as engines for economic renewal, committing to deepen economic decentralisation in line with Section 13 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
They welcomed the increase in fiscal transfers to states and the growing investor confidence in Nigeria’s economic outlook, noting that “multiple APC-led states are now attracting significant domestic and foreign direct investments, which is a testament to the enabling environment being created.”
