Nigeria: APC Set to Postpone National Convention by Two Weeks

The National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scheduled for February 26 may not be held on that day after all.
THISDAY can authoritatively confirm that the convention will be postponed by two weeks.
Efforts to speak to the Chairman, Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the party, who is also the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, on this latest development proved abortive.
Though there is no formal announcement yet, a very reliable party source informed THISDAY last night that the (CECPC) and the APC governors would meet President Muhammadu Buhari today to propose a new date, which is likely to be March 12.
The source who preferred anonymity said, “The convention has been postponed by two weeks but it is not official yet. The Caretaker Committee and the governors will meet with the President on Saturday (today) to propose the new date.”
Also, a former member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, who pleaded for anonymity, said it was already clear that the convention would not hold, “because there are some things that needed to be done for the convention to hold as scheduled on February 26 and most of them had not been done, with few days to February 26.”
The source stressed that, for instance, one of the things that ought to have been done was zoning of party offices.
He continued: “People have not bought forms and people cannot buy form if the zoning is not done; and forms cannot come out until the zoning is done. That is when aspirants will know what kind of forms they are buying. If you don’t know the zoning, you can’t buy a form.
“There are no committees; all the sub-committees have not been set up as we speak. I remember that at the last convention, there were over 20 committees beside the main convention committee.”
Reacting to the purported plans by some governors and a principal officer in the Senate to foist Senator Abdulahi Adamu on the party, he said “while individuals or groups can have preference, President Muhammadu Buhari has the final say on who becomes the next Chairman of the party.
“Whatever you are hearing now are mere speculations because nobody can push anybody. All of them are waiting for the president. Everybody is waiting for the president and that is why until the president says this is the chairman before they can now zone other positions around where he comes from.
“So, they have to know whom; they have to know which zone he is from before they can now zone the remaining offices based on that. But that is not to say that individual governors or some group will not have their preferences. But those cannot mean anything, except such individuals or groups are able to convince the president to now adopt their own.”

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

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