By James Orji
No going back on the All Progressives Congress, APC National Convention slated for February, the governors elected on the platform of the ruling party have said. Their resolution has put paid to speculaton that the convention has been moved further into the year, to enable the party leadership reconcile some aggrieved members across the country.
As part of the arrangement, the magazine learnt that Mai Mala Buni, Chairman Caretaker Committee of the party will meet, on Tuesday with some APC stalwarts to finalise arrangements for the convention.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari recently warned the National Caretaker Committee led by the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni that failure to organise the convention would provide opportunity for the opposition to take over the country.
Even though the party has yet to chose the exact date for the convention, the chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, PGF and Kebbi State Governor, Abubakar Bagudu, said on Sunday after a meeting by the governors that the party has decided to press ahead with the convention.
Only two APC govrnors did not attend the meeting. Governors who were in attendance include Borno, Babagana Zulum; Yobe, Mai Mala Buni; Jigawa, Muhammad Abubakar; Ondo, Rotimi Akeredolu; Niger, Abubakar Bello; Kaduna, Nasir el-Rufai; Ekiti, Kayode Fayemi; Kogi, Yahaya Bello; Ogun, Dapo Abiodun; Zamfara, Bello Matawalle; Ebonyi, Dave Umahi; Osun, Gboyega Oyetola; Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Plateau, Simon Lalong; Imo, Hope Uzodimma; Nasarawa, Abdullahi Sule, Cross River, Ben Ayade; Kwara, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje; and Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Nkem Okeke.
Bagudu said after the meeting that, “the Progressive Governors met tonight to discuss numerous issues affecting the forum and member states and we acknowledged some of the achievements in the states and members of the forum as well as the President who visited Ogun and Borno states where he inaugurated projects.
“We have had challenges in some states and we commiserated with them. We spoke about our unanimous appreciation for Mr President and especially the confidence he has in the forum.
“We also passed a vote of confidence in the National Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of the party chaired by Governor Mai Mala Buni and assisted by two other governors including Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State and Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State, who have done an incredible job of running our party successfully, mobilising people into the party.
“We discussed our coming convention which, you may recall, I had cause to address the press when we visited Mr President in November. We expressed that both Mr President and the party have agreed that convention should take place in February.
“So we took inputs about the reviews and we noted all the misrepresentations in the press and sought to correct them.
“The Progressive Governors’ Forum is one united body as you can see evidently from the attendance. And our decision is unanimous. We are united behind Mr President and we thank him. And we are united behind the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee.”
The Kebbi Governor said there is no plan to move the convention forward.
“Yes, February is still realistic. But we are just one group of stakeholders. Our party respects institutions. It is the appropriate organ of the party, the National Caretaker Committee, that will announce the date.
“We have agreed and they will announce a date in February. The announcement comes from the party. It is a party decision. There are other stakeholders that they are consulting with and to show respect and institutional limits, we are not going to overstep our bounds,” h
