Former governor of Nasarawa State and one of the key contenders for the plum office of National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress ( APC) senator Umaru Al’Makura has officially withdrawn from the race, drums supports for Senator Abdullahi Adamu for the position.
Adamu is presumed to be consensus candidate for the position endorsed by President Muhammadu Buhari
Al-Makura seen by many as a close ally to the President because of his unalloyed loyalty to him because of their long days in the Congress of Progrssive Change ( CPC)
Meanwhile, contrary to the provisions of section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act, the party has granted three former governors and serving ministers permission to vote at today’s convention.
These are Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige; Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi
The party made special concessions for the serving political appointees, who have previously served as Governors in their respective States in other for them to be able to vote at the national convention.
Amaechi served as the governor of Rivers State, Ngige served as governor of Anambra State, and Fashola served as governor of Lagos State.
According to the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, who is the Chairman of the publicity sub-committee for the APC national convention, the former governors would be given concessions because the party’s constitution makes them statutory delegates.
“Our delegates’ lists are statutory delegates. So if you have a former president as a political appointee, if you have a former senator as a political appointee, these are already automatic delegates.
“Let’s not confuse the two just because being an appointee doesn’t necessarily take you out of being a delegate, because our delegates are classified clearly. Former presidents from our party, former elected personalities, party officials and the rest are delegates.
“So if you are talking of the ones we have submitted now, we don’t have commissioners, we don’t have advisers, we don’t have all those unless somebody particularly who was a former this or former that. In that case, just being an appointee doesn’t completely exclude such a person from being a delegate,”
