Tenure Elongation: Lalong Committee Submits Report, Backs APC Convention

A technical committee set up to advise the National Executive Committee (NEC) by the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the controversial tenure elongation matter has submitted its report, even as it recommended that a national convention should be held.

The receipt of the report came just as the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said that the earlier decision of NEC which favoured tenure extension would be reversed at Monday's emergency meeting of the APC National Executive Committee.

THISDAY however, gathered that the committee's recommendations aligned with the earlier resolution reached between governors and the National Working Committee that there should be Congresses and national convention instead of tenure elongation.

A source who was privy to what transpired during the committee's sitting revealed that the decision of APC governors to support President Muhammadu Buhari's decision influenced the recommendation as they did not want the issue to further divide the ruling party.

While presenting his report yesterday, the Chairman of the Committee and the governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, told the National Chairman, John Oyegun, that he hoped the recommendations would be acceptable to all the stakeholders of the party.

He said that if the report of his committee was followed religiously, the issue of leadership logjam in the ruling party would be a thing of the past.

Lalong said: "The task appeared not easy when it was given to us but with God on our side and the very wide consultations we made, this report has solved most of the problems that we were thinking was within the APC. So, that is to tell you that there is democracy in the APC.

"We looked at the meeting of February 27; we looked at also the passion and the commitment of Mr. President towards keeping the party one and also cohesive and so at the end of the day, we made far reaching recommendations. We noticed that there were different interests, which is quiet usual when you have a party like this that is progressive and those interest were genuine but at the end of the day, we were able to marry those interests so that the party can move forward. So, in this report, you will see a lot of it.

"The report will also contain recommendations of certain issues that we think the party should do immediately. And one of them you have already started. That if these recommendations are going to be useful within the shortest time, the party must summoning a NEC meeting.