There are indications that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may postpone its national convention, already scheduled to hold on February 26, by two weeks.
A credible source in the party, who confided to newsmen on Thursday, said that the party’s leadership is expected to make the announcement this weekend or early next week. He added that with just nine days to the original date of the convention, there is nothing really on ground to show that the party is ready for the exercise.
According to him, many of the stakeholders in the party, especially the governors believe that the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) should be given some time, as it is “currently handling several knotty issues, especially the resolution of the crisis that trailed the Ekiti governorship election, Saturday’s primary in Osun State and the recommendation of the National Reconciliation Committee, led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu”.
Another reason he stated for the possible shift is the failure of the APC governors, under the aegis of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), to agree on the ‘Unity List’, which will contain the names of the consensus candidates.
Even though the party announced that the sale of forms would commence on Monday, this week, many aspirants who visited the party’s National Secretariat, located at Blantyre Street in Wuse 2 area of Abuja, went away disappointed, as nobody attended to them.
The source added that there are lots of knotty issues before the Buni-led caretaker committee which need to be resolved is the governorship primaries in Ekiti and Osun States.
According to him, “That of Ekiti has gone, but there are issues that the leadership is trying to resolve, especially among the aggrieved aspirants. In Osun, of course, you know it is holding this Saturday (today), and the party is sharply divided into two factions. If we are not careful, there may be violence, and our party members will be the casualties in Osun. These are some of the issues before the caretaker committee; and the convention is just less than 10 days from now”.
Meanwhile, with barely eight days to the Feb. 26 date of the convention, there are indications that the National Working Committee (NWC) that will emerge may not enjoy the full support of major blocks within the party.
Sources told newsmen that a major disagreement has arisen between the governors, who voted on the platform of APC, and President Buhari on the choice of the consensus chairmanship candidate for the party ahead of the convention.
While the governors are said to favour Sen. Mohammed Sani Musa, President Buhari is believed to be more disposed to former governor of Nasarawa State, Sen. Umaru Tanko al-Makura. This is the first time the president would be opposed by the governors on issues concerning the party.
Sources close to the APC secretariat explained that the disagreement between Buhari and the governors was the reason the president subtly redirected the APC governors, who were to meet with him, to the Buni-led caretaker committee on the eve of his departure to Belgium for the EU/AU summit.
The APC chairmanship position, it was gathered, had been zoned to North-Central but was micro-zoned to Niger, Benue, and Plateau States since the previous NWC positions were occupied by Kogi, Kwara and Nasarawa States.
That zoning arrangement, it was gathered, automatically eliminated aspirants for the chairmanship position from those States, including Sen. al-Makura and Saliu Mustapha, both of who have made a strong claim for the seat of chairman.
