Buhari okays APC membership registration

• Only NEC can determine committee’s fate – Buni

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the new membership registration in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The chairman of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), and the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, announced this after submitting the timetable for party registration to President Buhari.

Buni was in the company of the secretary of the caretaker committee, Senator John Akpanudoede; chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) and Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu; and Governor Mohammed Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State.

According to Buni, the approval was “In accordance with Section 9.4 of the Constitution of the All Progressives Congress (October 2014 as Amended).

The caretaker chairman, who said the reconciliation effort would continue, expressed happiness over the victory in the Ondo State governorship election and the return of high profile members such as former speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and Senator Barnabas Gemade, to the party.

Dismissing the rumour that the caretaker committee was plotting to elongate its tenure, he said its existence remained at the mercy of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) which alone has the power to end or extend their tenure.

He voiced optimism that the NEC would meet before the end of the year to work out a proper timetable for the party, stressing that members of the caretaker committee are not “job seekers”.

“You are all aware. We have three sitting governors in the committee. And you should know that none of the governors is seeking for job. Already, we have a job. But we have to sacrifice to ensure that we reposition the party.

“So, anybody who is thinking that maybe we are job seekers is wrong. We are not job seekers. We are here to reposition and reunite our party so that we have a party we can all be proud of. This is our mandate and we are ready to discharge our mandate. That (tenure elongation) is left for NEC to decide,” he added.

Buni, while reacting to the 14-day ultimatum given to his committee to step down by some members of the party, said everyone has the freedom of expression.

The caretaker chairman was, however, not categorical on when the party convention is likely to hold, but that “it will happen soon.”

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the party and former Director Media and Publicity, Presidential Campaign Committee, Dr Kailani Mohammed, has said shifting the party’s national convention to 2021, would be an invitation to anarchy.

Dr Mohammed who was National Coordinator Votes and Awareness for President Muhammadu Buhari’s Campaign in 2019, told newsmen at a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja, that lack of internal democracy in the APC cost the party Bayelsa, Zamfara, Bauchi and Adamawa states.

He called on the committee to do things right and differently from the Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) which was dissolved by the National Executive Committee (NEC) over abuse of office.