Why APC national convention may not hold – Spokesman

The National Publicity Secretary of the governing All Progressive Congress (APC), Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, has said that the party might not be able to hold its national convention due to the party’s inability to hold the stipulated National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.

This is even as the National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings of the party scheduled for Monday and Tuesday have been postponed.

Mallam Bolaji, who spoke on telephone to our political correspondent in Abuja on Thursday said: “I have said it often that nobody has suspended the national convention of the APC.

It is only the NEC that can do that and the body has not met. The National Working Committee can advise the NEC on a date, but cannot override them. The NEC is planning to meet by next week. Until that meeting, no tentative date has been fixed for the convention. A date can be fixed by the NWC with ratification from NEC”.

A forum of the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) members had earlier written a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari demanding for urgent NEC meeting of the party, decrying the leadership of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) led by the National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun.

The forum said “if nothing is done by the President, the situation might lead to an unnecessary intra-party cracks which will degenerate to an ugly situation in the party”.

The APC Non-NWC (NEC) members’ forum is a body of national officers of the party who are not members of the National Working Committee.

The forum also complained that they have written several letters to the national chairman, Chief Oyegun, without any positive reactions, hence this save our party’s request to Mr. President.

Meanwhile, the National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings of the party scheduled for Monday and Tuesday have been postponed.

The party announced this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, on Thursday in Abuja.

It said that the postponement was due to unexpected developments, however, that new dates for the meetings would be announced in due course.

The National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, had on January 25, 2017, constituted a 10-member committee to review the party`s Constitution.

The committee was expected to review the constitution ahead of the party`s non-elective National Convention expected to hold in April.

The review was to address some issues, especially on discipline and membership.