After 46 years in active politics, is Senator Adamu saying goodbye?

Insiders say that Senator Adamu, who is the party’s third substantive National Chairman, would have been forced out of office if he had not resigned from the position.

Following months of intrigues since the emergence of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the National Chairman of the party has quitted his position at its helm of affairs.

Senator Adamu has been in the eye of the storm since the June 2022 National Convention of the governing party, where President Tinubu emerged as the APC candidate against the wishes of the party Chair who had announced then President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, as the consensus choice of the broom movement.

With the former Lagos governor going all the way to secure victory at the general election and his subsequent inauguration as the 16th President of the Federal Republic, the expectations of many had been that Senator Adamu would be eased out of office. This is also putting into conversation his public statements on issues surrounding the party or key members, including the recent emergence of Presiding and Principal Officers of the Tenth National Assembly

Following widespread reports early Monday that Senator Adamu had thrown in the towel, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressive Congress (APC) confirmed his resignation as well as that of Senator Iyiola Omisore, who until Monday served as National Secretary of the party.

Speaking to journalists on Monday, the Deputy National Organising Secretary of the party, Nze Duru, who disclosed this, also confirmed that the Deputy National Chairman (North) of the party, Senator Abubakar Kyari, will take over as Acting National Chairman in line with the constitution of the party.

“One can confirm, yes, credible information that the Chairman of the party has stepped down as the chairman of the party, and meetings are currently ongoing.

I do not have the information if the secretary has resigned. There is an expectation that he should, and I also believe that being a seasoned politician who has played at the highest level, he will always act in the interest of the party. And to also assure Nigerians that APC is a very strong party built on a very strong foundation with a credible system and leadership to continue to transition to the next phase in the life of the party.

We are not expecting a caretaker committee, and I did make the point that meetings are going on across all the caucuses of the party, the various leadership in the party. We know that our constitution has provided adequately, a transition process in the leadership of the party. The Deputy National Chairman (North) will assume in an acting capacity the position of the chairman. It is also expected that the Office of the Secretary of the party will go across the other divide,” Duru said.

Shortly after a crucial meeting of the National Working Committee held at the party secretariat on Monday, Senator Abubakar Kyari further confirmed that he has taken over as Acting Chairman, while Deputy National Secretary, Festus Fuanter takes over as Acting Secretary.

Kyari, who addressed journalists, also confirmed that both Omisore and Senator Adamu are no longer part of the APC leadership.

While some sources claim that President Tinubu gave the order for Adamu and Omisore’s removal, other insiders say that Senator Adamu would have been forced out of office if he had not quitted.

Elected lawmaker for Nasarawa West Senatorial District in the National Assembly between May 2011 and April 2022, his emergence as APC National Chairman in March 2022 led to his resignation from parliament. Here’s a political profile of the immediate past APC Chieftain.

Member, Constituent Assembly (1977)