Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is currently holding a closed-door meeting at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa in Abuja. President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo with 18 governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are deliberating, after the national convention of the party was shifted for a third time yesterday.
The Governors in attendance include Lagos, Imo, Ogun, Borno, Niger,Yobe, Kano, Kogi, Ekiti, Nasarawa, Kwara, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Gombe, Osun, Kebbi, Plateau, as well as Deputy Governor of Anambra State who left the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for the APC last year.
The meeting was necessitated due to delays in the conduct of the APC national convention by the Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni led caretaker committee, tension and uncertainty over the future of the party.
Around noon on Monday, the caretaker committee through a letter, dated February 21 to the Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) fixed the zonal congresses of the party for March 26, this year, with no information about the convention date.
However, in a swift turn of events after what observers described as “pressure” from a section of the presidency, some governors, aspirants for the national chairmanship position and other tendencies, the APC caretaker committee backtracked on its earlier decision and fixed the convention for March 26, this year after a marathon meeting.
Many stakeholders are not happy with the postponement of the February 26 date earlier fixed for the convention. The crucial meeting with the President is expected to ratify all arrangements made so far over the postponed convention and discuss the controversy over the zoning of National Working Committee (NWC) offices.
Major players in the party hope the president to act to save the party from a looming implosion. Ahead of today’s meeting with the president, the party governors under the aegis of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) had a meeting last night at the Kebbi Government Lodge.
The caretaker committee was constituted to resolve the crisis in the party and conduct convention as quickly as possible.