Fresh details have surfaced regarding the sudden and indefinite postponement of the National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings of the All Progressives Congress (APC), initially slated for September 11 and 12.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, in a brief statement Monday night confirmed the indefinite postponement.
“Members of the National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are hereby informed that the National Caucus and National Executive Committee meetings scheduled to be held on September 11 and 12, 2024, respectively, have been postponed,” Morka said, adding that new dates would be communicated.
These meetings had been approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but no official reason was given for the postponement.
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Sources, however, told Daily Trust that President Tinubu’s decision not to return to Nigeria as initially planned on Sunday was the key reason for the last-minute postponement.
It was gathered that Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the APC’s National Chairman, was summoned to the Presidential Villa on Monday, where he was informed that the president would not be back in time for the meetings, forcing the postponement.
One source familiar with the situation said, “The President was supposed to return from China to Nigeria on Sunday, but instead, he left for Paris. By Monday, it became clear that he would not make it back in time, so the meetings had to be postponed.”
Though the change in schedule came suddenly, sources indicated there had been signs weeks earlier that the meetings might not go ahead as planned.
“Even though adverts for the meetings were placed in newspapers last week, there were already doubts about whether they would hold,” a source close to the party leadership said.
The source further explained that after the National Working Committee (NWC) wrote to President Tinubu asking for a meeting date, the president responded through his Chief of Staff, urging them to pick a date in September.
“The president met with Ganduje and two other party leaders where he clearly stated that he had decided to stick with Ganduje as chairman. He verbally agreed to hold the meetings on September 11 and 12,” the source said.
However, the situation became more complicated when the NWC wrote back to confirm the dates and received no response.
“There was no acknowledgement, but given the legal requirement to notify INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) two weeks in advance, the NWC must have assumed the silence was an agreement. They informed INEC and went ahead with the adverts,” the source added.
It was also gathered that further confusion arose when President Tinubu’s travel plans changed.
“Even on Monday, there was hope he would return, but Ganduje was summoned to the Villa and informed that the President would be heading to the United States for the UN General Assembly,” a source said.
The source explained, “The president’s handlers did not properly manage his calendar. Initially, when he left for Paris, he wasn’t expected to return so soon, but he had to rush back for the swearing-in of the acting Chief Justice. This was because it was discovered that he had not formally handed over to Vice President Kashim Shettima.”
The APC’s National Working Committee is now expected to meet again after receiving a formal update from the presidency on when President Tinubu will be available for the meetings.
“Once we know when the president will be back in the country, we can fix new dates for the meetings,” a party insider confirmed.
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