By Olusegun Olanrewaju, David Lawani and Cross Udo

As reports of confusion and uncertainty trail the February 26 National Convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday put off a meeting with governors of APC scheduled to hold at the State House in Abuja.

Although the agenda of the botched meeting was not made public, it was gathered that it was not unconnected with the forthcoming national convention.

This came just as the former Director-General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), Dr Salihu Lukman, advised Buhari to take urgent steps to rescue the party from what he called the reprehensible leadership of the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).

However, before the meeting was called off, some of the APC governors had arrived at the presidential villa, only to learn that the meeting would no longer take place.

No official reason was given for the cancelation but the president’s activities for the day had been scheduled to end earlier than usual as he was meant to depart for Belgium later same day for Europe-African Union Summit taking place in the country.

It is not clear whether the cancelation was for time constraints and when the meeting may be rescheduled.

Some of the governors that were sighted in the villa include the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Ekiti state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Simon Lalong (Plateau; Prof Ben Ayade (Cross River); Mr Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna); Senator Hope Uzodinma (Imo); and Mr Yahaya Bello (Kogi).

Also sighted were Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege; and Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase.

Despite the cancelation of the meeting, both Uzodinma and Bello were able to have separate private audiences with the President on matters concerning their states.

The two principal officers of the National Assembly also had a session with the President.

•Nothing wrong if we shift date- Uzodinma
Fielding questions from correspondents after his meeting with the President, Governor Uzodinma explained that there was nothing wrong if the APC decides to shift its National Convention from the February 26 scheduled date.

Responding to queries about the fate of the conversation following the party’s inability to agree on offices zoning and setting up convention subcommittees with less than two weeks to the date, Uzodinma said, “Of course, that is the decision of the party and there is nothing wrong even if it doesn’t hold. What is important is that we must have our convention.

“We have said it is 26th. If anything, for any reason tomorrow, it is not doable in the opinion of the party, we will move. But that does not mean that there is any intention to move.

“We shouldn’t worry about little issues. I think our focus and attention should be towards having a workable democracy in Nigeria, like we have shown, supporting government policies and programmes and then being patriotic.

“Our democracy will do better if supported with the right attitude. You may not like my face, but the federal government is the Federal Government, the state government is the state government. We should be able to exhibit a sense of nationalism and patriotism.

“We should be able to support the government that is in power. Today, the President, even though produced by APC, is President of all the political parties in Nigeria and the government of all the political parties in Nigeria.

“This mentality of war, war, war, politics, and democracy is not about war, it’s about ideology and the ability to sell your policy and the people will buy into it.

“So, I’m confident that our party, contrary to the expectations in some quarters, will be stronger and stronger as we make progress and of course, in the nearest future, I’m very confident that APC will still be in power because the programmes are the party, the manifesto of the party, the individuals in the party, majority of the political class in Nigeria understands that APC is the party to beat and that is why they are joining day by day.”

The Imo governor dismissed fears over the national convention as he affirmed that the APC being the ruling party has the wherewithal to deal with any issues that may arise.

“Don’t forget that the APC is not a mushroom party, APC is a giant, it’s the largest party today in Africa and that is the party that other small parties should copy. Because small parties come to do zoning and all that does not mean their internal mechanism must be the same as that of APC.

“APC is already the party on the ground that owns the federal government of Nigeria and up to 21 state governments. So, the discretion on how and when to do their convention should be an internal party affair and APC is the one wearing the shoe, with credible leadership, they know when to move and when not to move.

“So, I think we should just watch because, under the constitution of APC, buying form is one thing. We have three modes that we can adopt to elect our officers; either by direct primaries, by indirect primaries, or by consensus. What if APC has adopted consensus and is not yet to the public knowledge? We don’t need again to begin to sell forms and do that zoning or no zoning.”

Responding to questions after his separate meeting with Buhari. the Kogi State governor stressed the need for the North-Central to produce the successor to President Buhari as he noted that the region is the most marginalised in the country.

While reacting to the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, an Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation insistence that zoning the presidency to the South-East was necessary for national unity, Bello pointed out that the North Central has never produced the president or vice president of the country.

He argued that it is therefore proper for the region to be given the opportunity in 2023.

Bello, who is nursing presidential ambition said he did not need to announce whether he had informed President Buhari of his plans but noted that he will officially declare for the race in the next few weeks.

When reminded that the presidency by 2023 would have stayed eight years in the north and going by the north, he said: “First I’m an advocate of capacity and ability to serve. In Nigeria today, we need somebody who can serve the country. Today if you’re flying from one place to another, you don’t care who the pilot is, but who is that person who is experienced to fly from one point to another?

“Also coming from the angle of north and south divide then let us be very fair and equitable. Then you look into the number of years the north has held this position and the number of years the south has held this position. If you add eight years to what South has had and then looking at the north, then you know that there’s injustice as far as that is concerned.”

•Ex-NGF DG appeals for President’s intervention
Meanwhile, the former Director-General of PGF, Lukman, called for ‘fast moves’ to ensure that nothing is allowed to prevent the National Convention from holding on February 26, 2022.

In addition, he added, strategies must be fashioned out to ensure that issues around zoning offices and setting up all the sub-committees for the convention are decided immediately, and that and sale of forms to aspiring candidates commence.

Lukman expressed the fear that every committed leader and member of the ruling party is very apprehensive that, with less than two weeks to the scheduled convention, preparations are very low key, “to put it very mildly. There is no indication that sub-committees have been set up to drive processes of organising the convention.

“Every day,” he said, “We wake up with different speculation about whether governors will be meeting to decide on zoning, or governors are going to be meeting with Your Excellency, etc. Communication from the CECPC is very poor, and hardly gives confidence that the leadership of the CECPC, especially the Chairman, Mai Mala Buni, and the Secretary, Senator James Akpanudoedehe, are making any effort to mobilise all leaders, members, and Nigerians sympathetic to the party as parts of preparations for the national convention.”

He said based on the schedule of the convention as issued by CECPC secretary, Akpanudoedehe, on January 19, 2022, the sale of forms to all aspirants was supposed to commence on February 14, 2022.

“(But) as it is, today, February 15, 2022, forms are not available anywhere, and the excuse from all available sources is that unless zoning of offices to be contested are decided, forms will not be available. Why has the CECPC not concluded on zoning up to now? When will they conclude on it?”

In a statement, he said, “Your Excellency, it is important to emphasise the point that APC is a product of sacrifices by leaders and members of our legacy parties.

“The CECPC under the leadership of His Excellency, Mai Mala Buni, must be compelled to provide honest leadership to the party based on sacrifices. As we, therefore, prepare to elect new leaders for the party, we need to appeal to all leaders to approach the process of party leadership selection based on good assessments of the credentials of those being selected. As is often said, once beaten, twice shy; or is it twice beaten, thrice shy?”

*Crisis brews over moves to expunge legislators as delegates
Meanwhile, the National Assembly members elected on the platform of the APC are at war with the CECPC over the proposed amendment seeking their exclusion as statutory delegates from the party’s national convention.

The Buni-led committee had issued a notice for a constitution amendment to be undertaken during the convention to be held on February 26.

One of the proposed amendments would exclude members of the National Assembly on the platform of the party from being statutory delegates unless appointed by senior members (principal members) of the National Assembly.

The development is being seen as an attempt to muzzle a key caucus and whittle down their influence not only during conventions but in their respective states.

So many states are embroiled in crises due to the struggle for control of party mercenaries and the constitution of convention delegates.

Notably, Kano, Cross River, Delta, Imo, Jigawa, Taraba, Zamfara, Kaduna and Gombe states are some of the states where state governors are having running battles over control of the party.

The APC NASS members have therefore declared the proposed amendment as undemocratic and illogical saying the party cannot be different from other parties in the country.

One of the members, Mr Olajide Jimoh, representing Lagos Mainland, wrote a letter addressed to Buni on behalf of his colleagues, where he disagreed with the proposed plan to amend 12(i), which has to do with the Convention.

In the letter, he said, “Any attempt to exclude members of National Assembly, individually or collectively, by an error of commission or omission will violate the principles of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Constitution as amended.

“Federal lawmakers or members of National Assembly belong to federal level or national level. As such, they belong to National Convention and must be partakers at all levels.”

He pointed out that members of NASS, both serving and former, have been part of National Conventions, ab initio, and that removing them will make it too apparent that “you don’t need them”.

He reminded Buni that APC “is not the only registered political party in Nigeria” as other political parties “have members of the National Assembly as part of their National Convention.”

Jimoh said, “The new proposal only admits former and sitting governors and their deputies, including Secretary to the Federal Government, who was never elected. This is against the norm that allows both former and current National Assembly members. This is not good at all.

“People must be allowed to participate in the convention. The current proposal is not in tandem with democratic ethos; it has a semblance of a military era. The military will come and suspend the constitution. This arrangement appears to be mooting the idea of suspending the parliament. This should not have been proposed.

“Why will there be any proposal to exclude both past and current National Assembly members from participating in the convention? And this is the only grouse I have with this proposal.”

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He added, “I completely disagree with the party that they cannot use that on us because it is a ploy to get rid of the legislators. We are representing the national, hence we are called the National Assembly, and therefore, we cannot be excluded from the convention.”