APC constitution will decide how presidential candidate will emerge — Gov Abubakar
Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State said yesterday that the constitution of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), will determine the procedure to be adopted in the election of a presidential candidate in 2019.
Governor Abubakar spoke on the outcome of the sixth APC National Working Committee (NWC) consultative meeting, in Abuja, with the party’s governors and leadership of the National Assembly, represented by Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan.
When asked to comment on whether the party was mulling an automatic presidential ticket for President Muhammadu Buhari, following an opposing view expressed by Chief Bisi Akande at the recent APC SouthWest meeting in Ibadan, Governor Abubakar said, “This meeting has not deliberated on that; but the APC has a constitution and that is one of the items that was discussed, the amendment of the APC Constitution.
The governor, who spoke on behalf of other APC governors, said the meeting, which received the report of Governor Nasir El-Rufailed Committee of True Federalism, deliberated on preparation for the forthcoming Anambra State governorship election campaign committee which he chaired.
He said his meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari together with the APC gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Tony Nwoye, was meant to get an assurance that there would be a level playing ground for all the candidates.
Also speaking, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the meeting endorsed the dates fixed for the meetings of its National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC), adding that the date for the mid-term non elective convention would be announced after the two meetings.
Abdullahi said the meeting expressed support for President Buhari’s appeal to the World Bank to focus attention to the NorthEast region.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said the consultative meeting had been productive.
The meeting was attended by governors of Imo, Edo, Kebbi, Plateau, Kaduna, Adamawa, and the deputy governors of Kogi, Ondo, Nasarawa, and Sokoto States.