Ali Modu Sheriff withdraws from APC chairmanship race, gives reason

Former Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, on Sunday pulled out of the All Progress Congress (APC) national chairmanship race, saying he doesn’t want to oppose the zoning formula of the party as they have agreed to zone the position to the north-central.

Briefing journalists in Abuja, the nation’s capital, Sheriff informed that he has respect for the leader of the party, President Muhammadu Buhari and so he will not continue in the race.

His words, “I respect the president as my leader, and he must have a reason why the national chairman is zoned to the North-central. Therefore I will no longer contest unless the party leadership decides to throw it open between now and Friday.

The former governor thanked his campaign team for their steadfastness, noting that except the party reviews its zoning formula, he is no longer contesting.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) national convention is expected to hold on March 26.

APC in a statement issued last Wednesday by its Director of Publicity, Salisu Na’inna Ɗambatta, announced that the national chairmanship position has been zoned to the North-Central while the South West will produce the National Secretary.

The statement added that the position of the Deputy National Chairman has been allocated to the South-East zone.

The ruling party said the zoning arrangement was adopted at the March 8, 2022, regular meeting of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).