APC Convention: Adamu’s Failure To Personally Submit Forms Causes Stir

APC Convention: Adamu’s Failure To Personally Submit Forms Causes Stir

Last Friday was a busy day for bureaucrats at the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress APC as aspirants for various positions thronged ‘Buhari House’ to beat the deadline for the submission of nomination forms.

It also presented an opportunity for many of the key contenders for the top position to make their first appearance at the party office in a long time and of course, newsmen had staked out the place in order to grill the aspirants.

But while some of the Chairmanship hopefuls turned up, a number of them did not in what some political watchers consider as an affront to the party they seek to lead.

While it is true that there is no law stipulating that the aspirants must personally submit their duly filled nomination forms, it is a time tested political tradition that party members and the media always look forward to especially as the key contenders hardly show up to pick those forms themselves.

So it is against this backdrop that the media set up a platform at the entrance of the building where every aspirant is given the chance to reaffirm their interest in the race as well as what they have to offer party members and stakeholders.

But unfortunately, a number of the aspirants failed to turn up at the party’s national office, leaving APC party members to make some assumptions that may not necessarily be true.

Three contenders for the position of party chairman were not physically present but the most notable absentee was 76-year-old Senator Abdullahi Adamu who some media outlets had claimed had the endorsement of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He was represented by the head of his campaign organisation, Hon. Lawrence Onuchukwu as well as a sizeable number of his team who all first went to the second floor of the national secretariat to complete necessary paperwork before facing the media.

So why was the former Nasarawa governor absent on the day? No official reason was provided and so the politicians on ground had a field day speculating on what happened.

For some of them, it may not be too good to have a man close to his eighties struggling to climb the staircase of the APC secretariat and afterwards expect him to take questions before fully catching his breath. Others however attributed it to the so-called endorsement and described it as an arrogant display that may be counterproductive.

They easily point to something Adamu said a few days ago about him never losing an election in over 40 years.

However, if it is true that the stress of getting to the second floor was the reason for Senator Adamu’s absence, then those pushing that line of thought should know that the office of the National Chairman is located on the 3rd floor.

Will he then be an absentee Chairman in a crucial election year if he is elected above younger elements in the race?

Meanwhile, another former Nasarawa governor in the race for APC’s top job Tanko Almakura was quick to make what people described as a subtle reference to Adamu’s absence when he noted that he showed up in deference to the party hierarchy.

Adamu’s absence could either be viewed from the prism of age or perceived arrogance but what is not in doubt is that it rubbed hundreds of reporters the chance to hear him unscripted especially as he only joined the race a few weeks ago and had hardly been seen speaking out of his comfort zone, in either his home or office.