North-Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has demanded an immediate apology from Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, for reportedly hiring thugs to attack the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, at a recent meeting in Gombe State.

Also, the Special Assistant on Public Enlightenment to the APC chairman, Oliver Okpala, described the attack by alleged members of the party in Gombe as unacceptable.

During the North-East zonal consultative meeting on Sunday, Ganduje and APC National Vice Chairman (North-East), Mustapha Salihu, endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term without a mention of Vice President Kashim Shettima.

Due to the commotion their comments caused, Ganduje and Salihu had to be escorted out of the venue under heavy security as protests broke out at the meeting venue.

The Chairman, North-Central APC Forum, Saleh Zazzaga, in a statement yesterday, faulted Zulum’s conduct, accusing him of mobilising thugs against the party’s national chairman.

The Forum also defended Ganduje’s action, noting that it was only the President who could nominate his running mate in the presidential election.

He added: “Nobody will force a running mate on President Tinubu; it is left for him to nominate whoever he feels he can work with.

“We are condemning Governor Zulum’s action of mobilising thugs to attack innocent Ganduje, who was discharging his duties as the APC national chairman.”

Further condemning Zulum’s action, the Forum noted that the Borno governor and the North-East had no reason to feel entitled to any privilege in the APC because the region did not deliver the expected results for Tinubu and the party in the 2023 election.

According to the statement, the North-Central, which gave the APC and President Tinubu more votes in the last election, should be the one demanding special privileges, rather than the North-East.

THE APC National Chairman’s aide noted that the acts of thuggery and brigandage by some members of the party at the zonal meeting were totally condemnable, irresponsible and unpatriotic to the present political dispensation in the country.

Okpala noted that there was no space for violence in Nigeria’s political space presently; hence, party members should maintain decency and decorum in their political activities in the country.

Reacting to the unfortunate political crisis in Gombe, he remarked that it was this kind of unwarranted political crisis in the western region that snowballed into a major national crisis in the country, which contributed to the collapse of the First Republic.

“We condemn this act in its totality. Nigeria will never be allowed to descend into such brigandage; such an occasion is supposed to be one with decorum. This act does not bode well for the image of the country.