Buhari may approve shift of APC national convention by two weeks

The National Convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may have suffered another postponement as indications are rife that President Muhammadu Buhari has given an approval in principle for the convention to be shifted by another two weeks.

The decision was reportedly taken on Sunday night at a meeting of the party’s Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) chaired by Yobe State Governor, Mai Bala Buni, which agreed to shift the convention earlier scheduled for Saturday, February 26.

At the meeting, the CECPC reportedly decided on a two-week shift, owing to logistic gaps in the convention planning and and some unresolved issues in the party.

Some of the issues include the inability of the party to constitute and publish names of the convention sub-committees to be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Another contending issue the ruling party has not been able to resolve has been the zoning of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) offices, as well as the inability of the CECPC to print its expression of interest and nomination forms for various categories of aspirants which were meant to be on sale from last Monday, in line with its earlier released schedule of activities for the convention.

There have been a clamour by leaders of the party for the convention to be postponed due to fears that the Gov. Buni-led CECPC was not transparent enough to conduct a credible convention.

An insider who was part of the meeting, confided in Ripples Nigeria on the condition of anonymity, that the announcement could be made on Monday or Tuesday at the latest, after a meeting of the CECPC, governors and the President scheduled for Monday.

Read also: APC governors’ forum chief, Salihu Lukman, resigns amid furore over national convention

“Baring any last minute change, I can tell you categorically that the APC National Convention which was scheduled to hold on February 26, will be postponed by another two weeks, with the new date scheduled for March 12.

“At the CECPC meeting held on Sunday, the committee asked for a longer shift but some governors who were part of the meeting kicked against it and it was later settled for March 12.

“After the meeting, the CECPC met with President Buhari and he gave his approval in principle. The announcement should be made after another round of meeting on Monday or at the latest, on Tuesday.

“But I can tell you that the February 26 convention may not hold again,” he said.

Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State had said the February 26 date for the convention could be changed if necessary.

On February 15, Ripples Nigeria had reported how Uzodimma, refused to rule out the postponement of the APC national convention slated for February 26.

While addressing State House correspondents after a meeting with Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Uzodinma said though APC did not plan to postpone the convention, the “date could be changed if the party leadership discovered that it was no longer feasible.”

The former Director General of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), Dr Salihu Lukman, at several times, predicted that the APC’s national convention would not hold due to infighting and power show among the leaders of the party and their own interests instead of putting the interest of the party in the front burner.

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