Convention may hold Feb.25
Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have summoned an emergency meeting for tomorrow in their latest effort to stop the party’s downhill slide.
Top on the agenda, The Nation gathered last night, is finding a way to douse the tension sparked by the continued delay in fixing a date for the party’s crucial national convention.
Some of the governors are kicking against alleged plot by some forces to retain the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the party till after the primaries.
A few of the governors have also asked President Muhammadu Buhari to call the CECPC to order.
Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the APC is divided along the lines of pro and anti-February convention date.
It was gathered that those that are pushing for June timeline are finding it difficult to sell their agenda because it could affect the conduct of the party’s primaries ahead of next year’s elections.
Proponents of the June timeline, allegedly being backed by three governors, are said to be the brains behind the latest litigation to stop the national convention.
It was gathered that some governors and party leaders are tired of what they perceive as foot-dragging by the Caretaker Committee on the national convention.
A source said: “The waiting game is over because time is not on the party’s side. APC leaders and members’ patience has been exhausted.
“Even the President has demanded for convention timeline from the Caretaker Committee, because as the ruling party, our government must provide direction for political and electoral developments in the country.
“So, the pressure has been too much on the CECPC, which is now mostly on the defensive.
“Although the delay has enabled the governors and party leaders to consult on the way forward for APC, the governors have to resolve the impasse because the fate of APC is at stake.
“Actually, the governors were expected to meet on Wednesday but Governor Dapo Abiodun (of Ogun State) was said to have requested a slight shift to enable his state host President Buhari on Thursday.
“Also, the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Governor Atiku Bagudu, postponed the meeting to enable all his colleagues to participate.”
Confirming the pressure, one of the governors said: “We have received a notice of an emergency meeting in Abuja on Sunday.
“There was no agenda in the notice, but because of its emergency nature, it presupposes that we are going there to manage the looming crisis in the party.
“Imagine, at our level, we do not know what we are going to discuss.
“Certainly, no other issue can be on the table than fixing a date for the national convention of the party.
“The CECPC knows that there is heat on them. They have burnt their goodwill, but they are lucky that Governor Buni, who we respect, is chairing the caretaker committee.
“This is a democracy. Our party should not be managed by an ad hoc committee.
“We are going to the meeting to demand a definite date for the national convention. We have about six options to choose from.”
Responding to a question, the governor said: “When we agree on the convention date, we can start horse-trading on the choice of the next national chairman of APC.
“The outcome of Sunday’s meeting will pave the way for some activities in the party, like the election of a new APC national chairman, zoning of offices for 2023 poll, reconciliation, preparation for Ekiti and Osun governorship elections and the conduct of presidential and other primaries for the general election.
A party source said “the Caretaker Committee may meet on Tuesday on the decisions of the governors’ meeting.
“But the plans of the governors include going to consult with the President after their session in Abuja.”
When contacted, the Director-General of PGF, Comrade Salihu Lukman, said: “I can confirm to you that the governors are going to meet on Sunday. There is a notice to this effect.”
The six options on the convention allegedly being considered by the governors and party leaders are as follows:
- Holding convention in February as initially agreed upon and despite ongoing reconciliation
- Fixing a new date in March or April to conduct congresses in Anambra, Zamfara
- Allowing all congresses, reconciliation to be completed, court case resolved before convention
- Conducting primaries for 2023 poll before convention
- Holding presidential primaries, national convention on the same date
- Adopting consensus approach for convention, presidential primaries.
All Progressives Congress state governors had met with President Buhari penultimate Friday in Abuja just 24 hours after the President warned that the party must keep its house in order if it was desirous of winning next year’s elections.
Buhari, at the meeting, had personally asked for the convention timetable from the CECPC.
Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State had told reporters at the end of the meeting with Buhari that the President’s warning to the party to resolve its differences immediately was a signal for the APC to have a seamless convention to avert disintegration.
The warning, according to him, was for the APC to redouble its efforts and do the right thing.
Lalong also said the governors would meet last Sunday, but the meeting never took place.
He said: “All the fears that we’re talking about, which the President also re-echoed, is all about telling the governors: please do more, keep the party alive. So, by God’s grace, we’re going to keep our party alive.
“Well, these are things we’re going to discuss, but I’m not drawing conclusion. But I always tell you that a political party is a cumulation of interests.
“The interests may be the same, they may not be the same, but at the end of the day, what we’ll do is that we are going to elect people who are going to represent you.”
Lalong said tomorrow’s meeting would address all the contending issues affecting the conduct of the convention.
“When we meet, we will harmonise all interests and we will come out as one APC, and that’s what we’re hoping; that whatever will be the interests that we’re going to discuss, I have a very great hope that at the end of the day, our goal is to elect people who will take care of our party, because that will be the beginning of the process towards electing those who will take over from this present government.”
Asked if the many court cases pending against the party and its leadership would not scuttle the plans for the convention, he said: “There are procedures to holding court processes.
“Many of the court processes were there when we set up th caretaker committee, but up to this moment, if you go to take a census of some of the court proceedings, you will realise that a lot of them have been resolved out of court.
“So, it’s still the duty of the party, it’s still part of the functions of the party to resolve.
“But we must not wait to resolve all court processes before you go for convention. I don’t think so, because there are also machineries for resolving court process, even after convention.
“I had a court process in my state; that did not stop me from going on, and at the end of the day, we resolved the court process and we’re still going on, preparing and waiting for convention.”
Abia APC leaders accuse National Secretariat of masterminding local crisis
The party’s leadership in Abia State has accused the Secretary of the party’s Caretaker/Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, as the brains behind the crisis rocking the party in the state.
Akpanudoedehe, according to them, is working with some elements in the state to impose an unpopular candidate on the party at the expense of the interest of the generality of members and the party.
But the CECPC Secretary dismissed the allegation as untrue, saying he lacks the power to impose a leader on the party.
The State Caretaker Committee Chairman, Hon. Donatus Nwankpa, levelled the allegation against the party Secretary shortly after a meeting with Senator Adamu Abudullahi-led National Reconciliation Committee (NRC) in Abuja.
The Abdullahi committee invited the two factions to a meeting to resolve the crisis in the party in Abia State.
The faction led by Chief Ikechi Emenike was absent from the meeting.
Addressing newsmen after the committee’s meeting with the stakeholders in Abuja, Senator Abdullahi said his committee had a successful session but noted that the complainant (Emineke) failed to show up.
He said: “We had very, very useful discussions. We have reasons to be very optimistic about what we’ve heard and seen of Abia State and the person who would want to be seen as a complainant has not appeared.
“Whichever role we’ve given that complainant or the person given complaints against has not turned up. He was duly invited and from all indications, he has no case to put before us and we have no hesitation whatsoever to listen to the delegation from Abia State.
“I don’t believe we could have any better representation in terms of the interests of the party, the leadership of the party and stakeholders of the party than we have had this morning. So we appreciate them.
“We’ll make our report to the national headquarters, the National Chairman and with time we’ll do reports for all the others that we have undertaken. And we are hoping that the outcome will be extremely positive.”
The state caretaker committee chairman, Hon. Donatus Nwankpa, said: “ln 2015, we didn’t win any elective position. In 2019 we got a Senator, we got members in Federal House, we got at the state assembly, and to that effect in 2023, mathematically, you know where we’re going to.
“And because there is interest to sabotage this pattern, some people have conspired with the national secretary of this party to undermine the growth of APC not just in Abia but in the Southeast.
“You all are aware of the recent drama that happened in Anambra State. That is the picture of a conspiracy that they want to put Abia State and we are saying no to it.
“Besides that, the leaders don’t have their congress arising from the ward congresses and INEC have certified all the congresses we did in Abia and a court of competent jurisdiction has equally validated every of our congress procedures.
“You can’t beat a child and say the child should not complain. That is what we are here to tell them.
“You cannot impose leadership on Abia APC. Abia APC runs on a collegiate system, which means leaders man their wards. This is the directive from Mr. President.
“The President is opposed to the imposition of any leadership at any level. He wants the leadership to grow from the grassroots, and that is why the APC is here today.”
But the Secretary of the party’s CECPC, Senator Akpanudoedehe, said he was being wrongly accused.
“He maintained that neither he nor the office of the National Secretariat has the power to impose anybody on the party anywhere in the country.
Akpanudoedehe, while reacting to the allegation, said: “The accusation is not right. I don’t know why they should accuse me.
“The allegation of conniving to impose candidate is not true. The office of the National Secretary cannot single-handedly or unilaterally impose candidates. That is not true and that is not me.
“The office of the National Secretary can only transmit the official position of the party; it does not have the power to unilaterally decide on behalf of the party. It is not true.
The APC Abia stakeholders that attended the meeting were Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State, Senator Chris Adighije; Senator Nkechi Nwaogu; former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu; Chief Alex Oti; DIG Azubuko Udah (rtd); Chida Maduekwe; Rt. Hon. Uzo Azubuike, former Speaker Abia State House of Assembly; Sir Marc Wabara; Hon. Nnanango; Sir Stanley Ohajuruka; the longest-serving Speaker of Abia State, Hon. Nnanna Kalu; Nduka Anyanwu and so many other leaders.
However, Chief Ikechi Emenike faction was absent.
National convention to hold February 25
The national convention may now take place on Friday, February 25 in Abuja, well positioned party sources told The Nation last night.
The convention was originally scheduled for December 2020 by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party in June 2020 during the inauguration of the Mai Mala Buni-led 13-man committee.
Sources said the Buni-led caretaker committee has resolved to hold the convention next month.
“I can tell you now that our national convention will hold on February 25 here in Abuja, which has been agreed by the National Caretaker Committee,” one of the sources said.
He added: “The Buni-led leadership is not against those that we’re calling for the convention in February, but the leadership wanted a situation where the house will not be too divided against itself during the national convention.
“If some of the life-threatening crises rocking the party are not amicably resolved, they will further polarise the party even after the convention, and we have to bear it in mind that after this exercise (convention), we will face the general elections.”
The Secretary of the caretaker committee, Akpanudoedehe, in a statement on Wednesday denied reports that the committee had shifted the national convention to June.
In the statement, he maintained that the committee was embarking on nationwide consultations with stakeholders to prepare the ground for a rancour-free convention, adding that a sub-committee on budgeting and other substructures would be set up in due course.
Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Abdullahi Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi State governor), had in November led the CECPC chairman Buni and Jigawa State Governor Mohammed Abubakar Badaru to a meeting with President Buhari where February was approved for the meeting.
But the inability of the CECPC to set machinery in motion for the conduct of the convention led to speculations and allegations of tenure elongation by the Buni-led committee.
