The North-Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has justified its push for Plateau State governor, Caleb Mutfwang, to join the party.
The group claimed it was based on a "directive from above".
NATIONAL POST reports that there has been pressure from the Forum on Mutfwang, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to defect to the APC.
But some members of the party in the state are not comfortable with the arrangement, as they are worried of losing the party’s structure to the governor upon his defection.
Some Plateau APC leaders have as a result called for the suspension of the Chairman of the North-Central APC Forum, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga.
However, in a statement released on Saturday in Abuja, Zazzaga, a member of the APC campaign council in the 2023 election, hinted that the North-Central APC Forum's campaign to bring Governor Caleb Mutfwang to the APC is backed by the national leadership of the party.
"The North-Central APC Forum is warning those who are against calls for Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, to join the APC to desist from their unprogressive disposition because our campaign is based on a directive from above.
"This warning especially goes to political office holders, officials and other leaders of the party in the state who have been working against our efforts to strengthen the party, which is what we intend to achieve by calling on the governor to join the APC.
"We advise those who have constituted themselves as cogs in the wheel of progress to thread with caution as they cannot succeed in working against the interests of the party. No sort of intimidation or blackmail will stop us from our quest to get Governor Caleb Mutfwang to join our great party, the APC.
"It is imperative to emphasize that the party does not belong to anybody and as stakeholders who are committed to the progress of the APC in the North-Central, we believe that progressive elements such as Governor Caleb Mutfwang, should be welcome in the party," the statement added.