All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) has adopted the much-awaited zoning formula ahead of its national convention scheduled for March 26.

Niger State Governor and acting chairman of the party, Abubakar Sani-Bello, who made the disclosure after a meeting at the secretariat, yesterday, also announced that the National Executive Committee (NEC) would hold a virtual emergency meeting next week.

On Monday, Bello had stormed the national secretariat to administer oath of office on state chairmen of the party and announced he had President Muhamamdu Buhari’s blessings to assume duty as acting chairman in place of Yobe Governor, Mai Buni. He had earlier chaired an emergency meeting of the CECPC.

The governor, who explained the agenda deliberated at yesterday’s meeting of the CECPC, said it was in continuation of their inaugural meeting held on Monday at the secretariat.

“The meeting today is a continuation of yesterday’s own. And just hope you are not going to be asking me same thing tomorrow because we are going to be meeting everyday until the convention so that we can put things together. Basically, today, we look at the convention sub-committee and we collected some of the reports from the committee hoping that tomorrow, we will decide on the next step to take. Nothing much happen today,” he said.

Meanwhile, there are indications that Buni would tender his resignation letter at the emergency NEC meeting of the party. It was learnt that his official resignation was part of a ‘soft landing deal’ brokered by some party faithful close to the presidency. After Buni’s resignation is accepted, NEC is expected to ratify plans for the party’s national convention, it was also learnt.

But, leader of the party, President Muhammadu Buhari, who is expected to attend the NEC, is in the United Kingdom and a senior party source said the president would “likely participate virtually.”

A source close to Buni, has however, dismissed his planned resignation, saying only the party’s NEC had the power to remove the CECPC chairman.

“The Niger State governor is just saying, verbally, that he is the acting chairman. Who appointed him as acting chairman? The party is guided by rules and it is either the chairman himself, who can transmit a letter in that regard, or, the party’s NEC that can make him the acting chairman. By law, the president cannot just tell him to go and take over as acting chairman because the chairman is not in the country.

“It is the party’s NEC that can summon a meeting and the CECPC chairman must be in attendance, with the president also present when that decision is made. The party is bigger than any individual; everything must be resolved at NEC…,” he said.

It was also gathered that the 2023 ambition of some state governors, including first-term governors, to emerge as either presidential candidates or vice presidential candidates to a southern presidential candidate weighed heavily on cohesion in the party.

“What some people in the party wanted was that the convention and the presidential primary should be held the same day but this was opposed by other tendencies in the party. Those in favour of the old arrangement contended that the party could ill-afford the expenses of convening the convention and presidential primary separately and that, since the president had signed the new electoral law, it would be prudent to hold the two events same day; at the same venue.

“If that ‘idea’ had scaled through, the party would have been railroaded into endorsing a particular candidate through consensus and an influential member of the CECPC would have been adopted as the vice presidential candidate at the convention.

“Along the way, there were extraneous forces who colluded to stall the process. Ambitions in 2023 got in the way and what was envisioned could no longer be adhered to…”

The president reportedly got angry with “the whole shenanigans which played out and put his feet firmly on the ground; that, the March 26 convention must go according to plan, as agreed.

Meanwhile, Akpanudoedehe has dismissed the rumours of his resignation, insisting that only President Buhari can demand his resignation and that of the party Chairman, Governor Mai Buni.

He also denied getting any directive from the secretary to the government of the federation compelling him to resign, even as he reiterated that he is not above the party.

“I have read in social media that I have resigned as secretary of APC. I want to state that it is not true, I didn’t resign. If I have resigned, you would have seen my letter of resignation written by me. Someone cannot just say somebody is dead when he is alive,” he said. (Daily Sun)

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