The North-Central All Progressives Congress Forum has condemned protests staged by some APC members in Jos on Saturday against Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang’s possible defection to the party.
The Forum has been at the forefront of a campaign to convince the governor to dump the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the APC.
However, some leaders of the APC in Plateau State are opposed to Mutfwang’s coming to the party.
At an event held in Jos on Saturday to receive some politicians who defected to the APC, some members of the party staged a protest, demanding that the Plateau governor should not be allowed to join the APC.
The protesters carried placards with inscriptions that said Mutfwang is not welcome in the party.
Reacting to the protest in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Saturday, the North-Central APC Forum condemned the development, noting that it is undemocratic to stop anybody, including a governor, from joining any political party of their choice.
The Forum, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, insisted that Mutfwang joining the APC ahead of the 2027 election is in the best interest of the party,
The North-Central APC stakeholders urged President Bola Tinubu to call the Plateau chapter leaders working against Mutfwang’s defection to order.
The Forum equally threatened to report those blocking Mutfwang’s coming to the APC to President Tinubu.
Parts of the statement read, “The North-Central APC Forum condemns action of some Plateau APC leaders, who brought some of their supporters and other people to parade banners and placards with messages that oppose Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s coming to the APC during the reception of decampees on Saturday in Jos.
“While restating our call on Governor Mutfwang to join the APC, we insist that it is undemocratic to stop anybody, including a serving governor, from joining a political party of their choice. It is undemocratic and unconstitutional for any party leader in Plateau State to try to stop Governor Mutfwang from joining the APC.
“These set of Plateau APC leaders did the same thing when they organized a so called stakeholders meeting and they have now followed up on this undemocratic venture by mobilizing their supporters to parade placards against Governor Mutfwang. They are doing this not to protect the interest of the party but simply because they want to contest election in 2027, and for other selfish reasons. And we know for certain that none of these people have the capacity to defeat Mutfwang in an election, no matter the party he contests under.
“So we are not only condemning their action, we are also calling on President Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the party, to call these people to order. We are also calling on the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum to intervene in this matter by making a case for the governor in Plateau State to become part of the progressive governors.
“Nobody has the right to stop anybody, talk less a sitting governor, from joining any political party. It is a constitutional right. The North-Central APC Forum wants Governor Mutfwang in the APC because we know he has the capacity to bring value to the party.”
The Forum noted that those opposing Mutfwang’s coming to the APC are indirectly working against Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
“Pushing for Governor Mutfwang to join the APC is in line with efforts to actualize our pledge to give six million votes to President Bola Tinubu in 2027 but we now understand that these people who don’t want the governor to come do not want us to give six million votes to Mr President. These people are political amateurs – they don’t know how to play politics.
“The APC leaders in Plateau are also attacking us for calling on Governor Mutfwang to join the party. But we will not be intimidated because we know that they don’t have the power to stop anybody, including the governor, from joining the party.
“We are giving them an ultimatum to desist from their actions, otherwise we will write directly to President Tinubu and mention their names as people who do not want the progress of the APC and Mr President in Plateau State.
“We are also calling on former governor of Plateau State, Senator Simon Bako Lalong, as the leader of the party in the state, to quickly intervene and make room for Governor Mutfwang in the APC,” the statement added.
It would be recalled that the North-Central APC Forum had in October rejected a resolution passed by leaders of the APC in Plateau State against accepting Mutfwang in the party.
The Plateau APC leaders had at a stakeholders meeting in Jos on October 17, 2025, endorsed a motion, moved by former Deputy National Secretary, Barrister Festus Fuanter, which opposed Mutfwang’s possible defection to the APC.
“I move the motion against accepting Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang joining the APC,” Fuanter had said. The motion was also unanimously accepted by the stakeholders.
But in the statement signed by Zazzaga, a member of the APC campaign council in the 2023 election, North-Central APC Forum noted that its members in Plateau State were not invited to the stakeholders meeting where the resolution to block Mutfwang’s defection was passed.
It added that majority of the “so called Plateau APC stakeholders” who passed the resolution are individuals who could not deliver their polling units for the party during the last election but have now positioned themselves for federal appointments in Tinubu’s administration.
The Forum specifically observed that the governorship running mate of the APC in the state in the 2023 election lost both his polling unit and ward to the PDP but is currently among those spearheading the opposition to Mutfwang joining the party.
The statement added, “It is not just about gathering to reject Governor Caleb Mutfwang. The real issue is who can win the governorship seat for the party? Among those so called stakeholders that gathered to reject Governor Mutfwang, only just a few are genuine, capable party members. It is not about selecting people from some ethnic nationalities for federal appointment. The question is are they going to deliver?
“For example, in the previous election the governorship running mate of the APC in Plateau State lost his polling unit and ward to PDP. He got 2,800 votes in his ward. PDP got 10,600. And now he is among the people that don’t want Mutfwang to come to the party.
“Are these people that relevant that you will trust them again? They did not vote for Tinubu, they voted for Peter Obi but now they are rushing to Abuja for federal appointment. We are agitating for people to come into the party and add value but they are opposing this course due to their own personal interests. All those people that are rejecting Mutfwang cannot win their polling units.
“We want to collectively join hands to win Plateau State for Tinubu. It is not about interests at this moment. It is only when you win election that you start talking about interest.”
The North-Central APC Forum had earlier declared that its campaign for Mutfwang to join the APC is backed by some influential people in the Presidency.