The North-Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has endorsed a former governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Tanko Al-Makura, for the position of National Chairman of the party.
A statement released in Abuja on Sunday by the Chairman of the Forum, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, said the endorsement followed extensive consultations among APC stakeholders in the North-Central.
In the statement titled, ‘Why Al-Makura deserves to be APC National Chairman’, the Forum noted that Al-Makura is from the North-Central, particularly Nasarawa State, where the removed former National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, hails from.
The Forum further observed that Al-Makura is from the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) bloc which is part of the three legacy parties that merged to form the APC. It noted that among the three legacy parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) – the CPC bloc is the only one that has not held the APC chairmanship position.
“Senator Tanko Al-Makura was a two-term Governor whose clout and experience are pluses and both former and sitting governors will see him as one of their own. He was a former Senator who was seen as part and parcel of legislature. He was among the chairmanship aspirants who accepted without grudges to the consensus option that threw up Abdullahi Adamu as National Chairman during the APC National Convention in 2022.
“His loyalty to APC and Mr. President is not in doubt,” the statement said.
Further stating reasons for endorsing Al-Makura for the position of APC National Chairman, the Forum pointed out that “he has discharged critical party assignments in the country that gave him first hand ideas and intrinsic knowledge of the party nationally”.
The party assignments, according to the statement, include Chairman, Ekiti State APC Primary Election Committee that produced former Governor Kayode Fayemi in 2018.
He also served as the Chairman of the North-East Zone Reconciliation Committee in 2018, and equally as a member of the Bisi Akande Reconciliation Committee in 2020.
“He has a very rich experience and knowledge of political activities as he was Youth Leader (Plateau State) in National Party of Nigeria (NPN) – 1979; State Secretary (Plateau State) in National Republican Convention– 1989; founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – 1999; Governor on the platform of the CPC – 2011; pioneer member and signatory to the merger that found APC – 2013 and APC Senator – 2019,” the statement added.
The North-Central APC Forum further noted that Al-Makura was among the CPC bloc stakeholders who stood by the APC and President Bola Tinubu when some members wanted to pull out of the party and join the opposition coalition, earlier in 2025.
“He is a bridge builder and an advocate of inclusivity as he relates with the disability community that has over 20 million people as he is also a person living with disability,” the Forum said.
The endorsement of Al-Makura came about 24 hours after the North-Central APC Forum released a statement on Saturday to demand the return of the position of National Chairman to the region.
