Convention: APC Leadership to Meet Buhari, N'Assembly Caucus

The ruling All Progressives Congress has stepped up preparation for its national convention scheduled for April 29 following the return of President Muhammadu Buhari to the country last Friday. APC had mulled over plans to hold its National Executive Committee meeting and state congresses preparatory to the convention in April, but the actual implementation of the idea was kept in abeyance pending the return of Buhari, whose presence at the event was considered significant.

THISDAY gathered at the weekend that the APC National Working Committee had scheduled separate meetings with Buhari and members of the National Assembly caucus of the party to discuss modalities for the convention. It would be the APC’s first national convention since it beat the Peoples Democratic Party to win the presidency in 2015.

A reliable source in the presidency told THISDAY that the APC leadership had made moves to have a meeting with the president, who is still recuperating since returning from his medical vacation. Buhari had gone to London for a 10-day medical leave starting January 19, which was later extended.

The source said the party would have visited the president in London to consult him on the possibility of going ahead with plans for the national convention, but the leaders later rescinded the idea, as some of them thought it could be misconstrued to mean that Buhari was being undermined.

According to the source, the president, being a critical stakeholder in the affairs of the party, the leadership believes it is necessary to give him the opportunity to be at the NEC meeting and, subsequently, the national convention.

“The party leadership will be meeting with the National Assembly members next week to consult with them and it will also have to consult with Mr. President. We do not want people to start misinterpreting our actions to mean that we do not want to carry the president along,” the source said.

By the constitution of APC, a mid-term convention is only used to adopt and rectify decisions taken during the NEC meeting as well as issues relating to constitutional amendments. It is not meant to elect national officers of the party.

The leadership of APC has said that it would push a motion to restructure the Board of Trustees, to convert it to “Elders Forum” and prune it down to about half its current size. The move has elicited mixed reactions from party stakeholders, some of who see it as an attempt to edge out some leaders of the party and whittle down the influence of others.

THISDAY learnt that the matter could not be conclusively resolved at a recent meeting of the NWC, hence the decision to consult more widely.

According to a top party source, who was at the NWC meeting, lack of consensus by the committee forced the meeting to defer definite action on most of the issues until further consultations with stakeholders of the party are done.

It was learnt that the party’s leadership considered the meeting with Buhari very critical to the choice of dates and agenda for the NEC meeting.

Earlier in the month, the national chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and other members of the NWC had met with the party’s governors to harmonise their thoughts on how to refocus the party and achieve the goals set for the midterm convention. The meeting also discussed the situations in some of the state chapters. It was agreed that an effective conflict resolution mechanism will be put in place to stem the tide of internal dissension and resolve existing issues.

Worried by the spectre of internal squabbles, and as part of preparation for the non-elective national convention expected to hold not later than April, the NWC decided to set up committees to resolve all outstanding issues. This was to enable the party go to the convention as a united front.

The source stated, “The committees will be made up of senior members of the party and some members of the National Executive Committee. They will have the mandate to investigate all issues with a view to finding a lasting solution and reconciling members in the affected states.

“In the interim, the party has directed that where actions have been taken and disciplinary measures applied, state chapters should be strictly guided by the relevant provisions of the party’s constitution on disciplinary procedures.

“Therefore, where those actions have been taken in breach of the processes and procedures that are laid down in the party’s constitution, such actions should be reversed and the status quo maintained pending the intervention of the peace and reconciliation committees.”r