- President Muhammadu Buhari has allegedly delayed his UK trip till after the APC NEC meeting on Monday, in order to stop plans to extend the tenure of Chief John Oyegun
- Supporters of the APC national chairman are reportedly trying to use state chairmen to overrule the president’s previous decision that a new convention be held
- The state APC chairmen are said to be willing tools to move against the president, as they also want tenure extension for themselves
A plot is brewing among supporters of the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to ensure an extension of his tenure, The Nation reports.
The proponents of the tenure extension for the embattled APC chairman reportedly want to create a stalemate and dump the decision reached on the National Convention by President Muhammadu Buhari and APC governors.
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NAIJ.com learnt that in a bid to stop this plan, President Buhari has allegedly decided to attend the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Monday, April 9, before leaving for London.
This is in order to ensure that the decision for the APC to have congresses and a convention, holds.
Some party chiefs backing Oyegun had reportedly invited all state chairmen for a meeting last night, in a bid to fight back against the president’s decision. They want the state chairmen to push back against Buhari and the governors.
Sources with knowledge of the development reportedly disclosed that the president decided to delay his UK trip till after the NEC meeting, due to fears that the NEC may be pressured to overrule his proposal.
Ahead of next week’s Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the United Kingdom, the president is scheduled for a private meeting in London from Monday.
A governor reportedly stated: “The president told us at the Villa on Wednesday that he would prefer to attend the NEC meeting on Monday to ensure that the agreement on state congresses and National Convention with the governors was followed through.
“He said he was initially billed to leave in the morning on Monday, but he might go in the night after the NEC meeting. He said he would attend the NEC meeting to “satisfy” himself that the agreement with the governors is respected.
“We all reasoned with him because in his absence, all these pro-tenure extension elements, especially the NWC members, might want to spring a surprise. Some of our colleagues and some party leaders are not happy that we have rejected tenure elongation.
“Our fears were confirmed by the refusal of Oyegun to disband the Governor Simon Lalong Committee after the governors conveyed their preference for elective state congresses and the National Convention to him.”
The constitution of the National Convention Committee (NCC) was not on the agenda at the NWC meeting which held on Thursday, April 5.
A member of the NWC quoted Oyegun as saying: “We are yet to receive the report of the Lalong Committee on the desirability or otherwise of tenure elongation as proposed by NEC. You cannot put the cart before the horse. Everything depends on the Lalong report.”
He continued: “We were all shocked because Lalong addressed the NWC on Wednesday on the highlights of his committee’s report.
“Lalong told us plainly that his committee will agree with Mr President’s position. Having given us the snippets of his committee’s report and with the decision of the governors to back out of tenure elongation, we thought Oyegun would do what was necessary at the NWC meeting.
“As members of the NWC, it dawned on some of us that the agenda on tenure extension is a bigger picture in the party. Some people are just out to factionalise the APC before the next general election. They are looking for excuses to quit the party.”
Another source reportedly said: “State chairmen were invited by some leaders of our party and NWC members for what they described as a ‘block opinion’ on the need for tenure elongation.
“The essence of the meeting was to mobilise them to oppose President Muhammadu Buhari and the governors by asking NEC to subject the proposals for tenure elongation to voting.
“They are saying that since the president believes in democracy and the rule of law, he will have no choice than to abide by the decision of the simple majority on Monday at the NEC meeting. The main plot is to ambush the president and box him into a corner.
“Oyegun and the NWC members are fighting back. And since the state APC chairmen also wanted tenure extension, they will be willing tools to move against the president and the governors.
“It is still a dicey situation unless the governors move to support the president to push their proposal on the conduct of state congresses and the National Convention through.”
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the APC national charman, John Odigie-Oyegun, stated that the ruling party has resolved the issues dividing it.
Oyegun made the comment after meeting with five governors of the party - Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, Simon Lalong of Plateau, Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, and Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun - on Wednesday, April 4, in Abuja.
His meeting with the governors followed an earlier meeting they had with President Muhammadu Buhari, where they (the governors) disclosed that they would support the president's decision against Oyegun’s tenure extension.
APC official tells why his party could be voted out in 2019 - on NAIJ.com TV:
Source: Naija.ng