Buhari, 18 APC govs in ‘make or mar’ meeting over convention

President Muhammadu Buhari is currently holding a closed door meeting with governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The meeting is taking place at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

In attendance are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and 18 governors, including those of Yobe, Kano, Kogi, Ekiti, Nasarawa, Kwara, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Lagos, Imo, Ogun, Borno, Niger, 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 holds as the delay in the conduct of the APC national convention by the Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni led caretaker committee has created tension and uncertainty over the future of the party.

Around noon on Monday, the caretaker committee via 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.

But in a dramatic turn of events after what pundits 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.
Daily Trust reports that some party 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.

Stakeholders of the party are expecting 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.