From Victor Osula
Following the leadership crisis rocking the governor All Progressives Congress, APC, the Committee Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, CECPC, led by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State has postponed the party;s national convention marked for February 26, 2022, indefinitely.
The convention, where the party will elect a new national chairman and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC), was postponed indefinitely.
The CECPC in a letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, with reference number APC/NHDQ/INEC/019/22/21, and dated February 21, 2022, stated that the convention scheduled for the election of a new national chairman and members of the National Working Committee, has been postponed indefinitely. In its place the party would conduct zonal congresses.
The letter titled ‘Notice for the conduct of zonal congresses’ was signed by Buni and Senator John Akpanudoedehe, chairman and national secretary of the CECPC.
In the letter, the APC caretaker committee informed INEC that the notice for the conduct of the zonal congresses superseded the earlier notice for the conduct of the national convention.
Parts of the letter read, “This notice supersedes our earlier notice for the National Convention referenced APC/NHDQ/INEC/019/22/14. This is predicated on the evaluation of our party Constitution.
“In furtherance to Article 85 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and compliance with Section 12:6 of our Party Constitution, we hereby write to notify the Commission that our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has scheduled to hold its zonal congresses on Saturday 26th March, 2022.
“Kindly arrange for your officials to monitor the exercise accordingly. While hoping to receive your cooperation, please accept the assurances of our highest esteem.”
The CECPC has been running the affairs of the APC since June 25, 2020, following the removal of the last elected national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, on June 16, 2020.
The CECPC was expected to organise a national convention in December 2020 but failed to do so.
The Buni-led CECPC indicated in January that the party was ready to shake of the lethargy of the past and conduct a national convention by drawing up a calendar of events ahead of the election on February 26, 2022. Of the seven items on the time table, only three had been carried out before this sudden turn around.
The activities of the pre-convention schedule that the CECPC carried out were submission of the interim report of the National Reconciliation Committee, on January 31; consideration and adoption of reports of State Congresses, on February 2; and inauguration of the state executives, on February 3.
Other items on the schedule that the CNCPC failed to carry out and gave indication that the much touted convention was going to hit a brick wall were the sale of forms to all aspirants vying for national offices, which was scheduled to commence at the APC National Secretariat on February 14.
This was to be followed with the scheduled submission of completed forms and accompanying documents at the APC National Secretariat on or before February 19.
The timetable also stated that members of various national convention sub-committees would be constituted and published on February 19. It did not happen.
So too were the scheduled date are Screening of all aspirants vying for National Offices, February 20 to February 22; Screening Appeals to hear and resolve complaints arising from the screening exercise, February 23; Accreditation of all statutory and elected delegates to the national convention, February 24 to February 25; National convention to elect national officers to the National Executive Committee, February 26; and National Convention Appeal to hear and resolve complaints arising from the national convention, February 28.
Only last week, youths in the party met in Kaduna last weekend to demand for the holding of the convention as agreed and fixed for February 26, 2022 or the Buni-led CECPC of the party.
The youths who held a town hall meeting with the theme ‘Ready to lead, now or never, sacking of the party’s leadership and it replacement with committee to organize a convention for the party during the week.
One of the speakers who recently called for the dissolution of the current exco Mustapha Audu, said the leadership crisis rocking the party was caused by the Buni- led CECPC and unless it was removed the party would not know peace.
Audu, a governorship aspirant who hails from Kogi State, said,
“We are here to say we have sacked and dissolved the CECPC led by governor Mai Mala Buni. It is high time the great people of Yobe State started to benefit from the governor that they voted for. We as young people will constitute our own Convention Extraordinary Planning Committee.
“Next week, we will release our own zoning formula and we will plan our convention for the first week of February 2022 regardless of what is happening. We are going to show Mr President and every single Nigerian how party convention should be done.
“Our convention will be better than any other convention simply because young people are involved and young people are the true stakeholders of the APC.”
Another speaker who is a Co-Convener of the APC Stakeholder/Rebirth Group, Mr Ayobami Oyalowo, said,
“We want him (Buni) to resign even though we wish him happy birthday because he has overstayed his welcome. He was supposed to spend six months but he has spent one year and another six months.
“A party like APC should not be having the kind of problem we are having. Since they have come in as caretakers aside from the Ondo State election, we have lost every other election.”
Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State has been chairman of the CECPC since June 2020 following the crisis that led to the exit of the party’s former chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, has been battling crisis in different fronts.
Some party members have initiated litigation over the propriety of his stay, combining the position of governor and that of party chairman, while others think he has overstayed, having extended its tenure three time and in the course manipulated the party leadership to extend his tenure in his bid to ensure that only those he considers suitable to “his masters,” are elected into office as National Working Committee, NCW of the party.
The letter was silent on a new date for the national convention.
The development is coming barely 24 hours after The ICIR reported that the APC has fallen behind schedule on key items in the timetable of the national convention.
