DSS report nails Ganduje in alleged bribery scandal over FCT council primary election

Facts have reportedly emerged as to why the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, abruptly “resigned” on Friday.
Mr Ganduje was appointed as the national chairman of the ruling party on August 3, 2023, following the forced resignation of a former governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Adamu.

On Friday, Mr Ganduje resigned. Media reports cited mounting pressure from the North Central zone as one of the reasons that brought an abrupt end to the party chairman’s leadership.

But sources familiar with the development said the party chairman was asked to resign by President Bola Tinubu, following a report by the Department of State Services, DSS, that indicted him of corruption.

According to sources, the last straw that broke Mr Ganduje’s back was the shoddy handling of the FCT Area Councils primary elections, particularly Bwari Area Council primary election during which the results were allegedly manipulated in favour of the highest bidders.

An observer who witnessed the controversial Bwari Area Council primary poll of the ruling party, Enyigwe Matthew, had this to say on social media: “With the kind of APC primary I witnessed at Liberty Hotel in Bwari last Wednesday, I knew that this Ganduje of a man can’t last as the National Chairman of the party.
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As soon as his list of delegates arrived, he used the police to chase away all aspirants and accredited journalists.

As soon as his list of delegates arrived, he used the police to chase away all aspirants and accredited journalists.

“His actions can’t be ignored or unattributed to that chaos that resulted to the loss of life.”

A security source who preferred anonymity was quoted by a report by DAILY NIGERIAN to have said that president directed the DSS to investigate the bribe-for-ticket allegations, following complaints of manipulations and corruption that permeated the primaries.

The DAILY NIGERIAN reported that upon submission of the report, the president summoned the chairman of Progressive Governors Forum and governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma as well as his [president’s] senior special assistant on Political Affairs, Ibrahim Masari, and directed them to “advise” Mr Ganduje to honourably resign.

The duo, according to the sources, was later joined by the governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, to meet Mr Ganduje and convey the presidential message.

Devastated by the news, Mr Ganduje did not immediately heed the presidential “advice” on Thursday night.

He reportedly made frantic attempts to see the president and plead with him to allow him to lead the party to the convention in December 2025.

“The tiny string that holds Ganduje as chairman was recognition of his early loyalty to President Tinubu. But Ganduje’s corruption and selfish political interests have stretched the president’s tolerance threshold, such that he (Tinubu) had to wield the big stick to save the party,” an inside source was quoted to have said in the report.

Falling out with strong allies

Mr Ganduje’s travails worsened after falling out with two of his dependable allies in APC, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State and Secretary of the Government of the Federation, George Akume.

Although Mr Uzodimma had previously stood with Mr Ganduje whenever the president attempted to remove him, the Imo governor this time supported the president’s move due to a strained relationship occasioned by Mr Ganduje’s “selfish interference” in the South East APC affairs as well as Anambra governorship primaries.

On the Benue APC crisis, Mr Ganduje dumped his ally, Akume, in favour of Governor Hyacinth Alia.

According to sources, there was an agreement between Messrs Ganduje and Akume not to appeal the Benue State High Court judgement of November 2024, which favoured the SGF’s faction and nullified the seven-member caretaker committee established by the party’s National Working Committee to oversee its affairs in the state.

Mr Ganduje, however, reneged on the agreement and directed the legal department of the party to appeal the judgement.

Past corruption cases

In 2018, DAILY NIGERIAN exclusively published videos of Mr Ganduje receiving bribes in dollars from a contractor, leading to a probe by the Kano State House of Assembly.

Mr Ganduje is facing corruption charges alongside his wife, son and other accomplices to the tune of over N50 billion in Kano. [DAILY NIGERIAN]