‘We’re disappointed over delay in APC convention’

A group within the All Progressives Congress (APC) called the Rebirth Group has said it is disappointed over the delay by the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee in organising the national convention.

In a statement in Abuja, the leader of the group, Aliyu Audu, said critical stakeholders in the party should come together and ensure that credible National Working Committee (NWC) members emerge on March 26, a new date for the convention.

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The APC Caretaker Committee led by Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni, had postponed the convention earlier slated for February 26, and fixed March 26 for the exercise.

Audu said, “More disappointing for us is in the fact that after all the dilly-dally that has taken us from a six months mandate to twenty-two months and counting, the same Caretaker Committee that has consistently failed to deliver on its core mandate of delivering the national convention and even inspiring any confidence of some sort will be allowed to continue to supervise the process of the same convention it could not organize.

“Our expectation was that after the meeting of governors with the president, a fresh committee will be immediately constituted to prepare towards the new convention date of March 26, but this was not to be.

“While we have nothing personal against the CECPC, our concerns as we have always expressed is to ensure that handlers of the party at any point in time conduct affairs in ways that will stabilize it and preserve its fortunes for the tasks ahead.

“We hope that the CECPC will prove to be above board in this regard.

“The recompense for us in the new reality of things is that an early commitment to deliver the convention has been demonstrated with the few activities that has immediately preceded the announcement of the new date of March 26th, especially with the coming into the fray of the governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir Elrufai.

“Unlike what was initially obtainable, Mallam Elrufai did not only inspired confidence with the communication of the decisions reached at the various meetings of the stakeholders, he went ahead to ensure that the zoning arrangement which has been an issue on the minds of many members of the party was also communicated to the public as agreed by the stakeholders; a development that has not only calmed frayed nerves but has helped to inspire confidence in the March 26th convention date.”