APC Chairmanship: Buhari’s ally, Mustapha leads in online poll

.Group drums support for Sen. Musa

. Akume most suitable to lead APC, says Institute

An online poll has revealed that  Mr Saliu Mustapha is the most preferred among the contestants for the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairmanship office from the North-Central

Although the party’s mode of election is not clear yet, the new party executives will be announced at the Feb. 26 national convention of the party.

As the race tightens, contestants in the North Central have started campaign activities across the length and breadth of the country.

However, in a bid to test the popularity of the candidates, a poll was conducted on Twitter, the popular microblogging site, with over 1200 respondents.

“If these are the only options left during the APC convention, who will you vote for?,” asked Lekan Adigun, the Twitter user who conducted the poll.

Adigun listed former Nasarawa Governor, Tanko Almakura; former Benue Sen. George Akume; Niger Sen. Sani Musa and the Turaki of Ilorin, Saliu Mustapha, as the top contenders for the coveted seat.

But in the final result, Kwara-born Mustapha garnered 72 per cent of the total votes, while Almakura trailed behind him with 16 per cent.

Both Musa and Akume only had 6 per cent of the votes each.

Political analysts have, however, argued that Mustapha, a former executive of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change and a close ally of Buhari, stands a chance as rumours have suggested the party may want to opt for a thorough-bred party administrator

Also, Initiative for Leadership Development and Change, an Abuja-based NGO, has urged APC members to support the candidacy of Sen. Sani Musa as National Chairman of the party at its National Convention.

Chief Ugochukwu Nnam, National Coordinator of the group made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

The ruling party is expected to elect its new leadership at a National Convention scheduled for Feb. 26, 2022.

Nnam described Musa as a leader whose progressive ideas were needed to steer the ship of APC to victory in 2023.

“Sen Sani Musa is a man of the people who used his tenure in the office as senator to alleviate poverty in his constituency.

“The records are there, since the party has zoned the chairmanship to the North Central, I urge them to go for detribalised and people-oriented politicians as Sani Musa,” he said.

He said given the complexity of the country, it was imperative that party members were circumspect in the type of individuals they elect into leadership positions.

Nnam expressed the commitment of his group to quality leadership in the country.

“We as an organisation are interested in giving Nigerians quality and credible leadership irrespective of tribal or political party considerations”, he told NAN.

He explained that Nigeria at the moment needed men and women of proven integrity to maintain the push for a prosperous nation.

Meanwhile, The Africa Polling Institute (API) has tipped Dr George Akume, Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs as the most suitable aspirant for national chairmanship of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Prof. Bell Ihua, Executive Director, API said this in a statement in Abuja.
Ihua said that the pronouncement was based on a public opinion poll released by the institute.
He said the poll was part of the institute’s Jan. 2022 monthly NigeriaSpeaks poll, undertaken on Jan. 24.
“The poll sought the opinion of Nigerians on who they consider most suitable to lead the APC and position the party for the future.
“From the responses, Akume came 1st with 13 per cent, followed by Sen. Danjuma Goje, Abdulazziz Yari, Tanko Al-Makura and Ali Modu Sherrif with 10 per cent each, Isa Yududa 8 per cent and Saliu Mustapha 4 per cent.
“Further analysis revealed that Akume was considered most suitable for the job of party chairman given his good leadership qualities and character as well as his past performance and track records,”Ihua said.
He said the poll was part of the monthly NigeriaSpeaks series of national public opinion polls conducted by the API.
He added that the NigeriaSpeaks poll project was a series of monthly nationwide public opinion polls aimed at bridging the gap in primary data.
Ihua further added that it aimed at capturing public opinion and giving citizens opportunity to lend their voices to public policy discourse, practice and advocacy.
“The opinion poll was administered from Jan. 24 to Jan 28.
“It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,026 randomly selected phone owning Nigerians aged 18 years plus, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country were interviewed.
“With a sample of this size, we can say with 95 per cent confidence that the results obtained are statistically precise – within a range of plus or minus 5 per cent,” he said.
He added that Nigerians from all walks of life were welcomed to suggest questions to the monthly poll.
According to him, the API is an independent, non profit and non partisan opinion research think-tank which conducts opinion polls, surveys, social research and evaluation studies.
Ihua said its objective was to support better public policy, practice and advocacy in Sub-Saharan Africa.