Lukman: It’s Difficult to Excuse Buni’s C’ttee from Campaign to Postpone APC Convention

•Urges Yobe governor not to yield to temptation to stay longer than February

•Warns against imposition of candidates in Ekiti, Osun poll

•Accuses CECPC of recklessly managing party primaries

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Director General of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu Lukman, has said it would be difficult to excuse the leadership of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the ongoing campaign to postpone the national convention of the party, tentatively slated for February.

He said the committee under the Chairmanship of the Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, has done an excellent job since its emergence in June 2020, by bringing down tension within the party, but, however, warned that all his good works were about to be destroyed if it yielded to the temptation of staying beyond February 2022.

Lukman, who stated this yesterday in an open letter to APC leaders, titled: “Plausibility of February 2022 APC Convention”, said ordinarily, there should be no need to be doubtful about whether the ruling party would be having its convention in February 2022 or not.

He recalled that after the end of 2021 meeting of the Committee on Monday, December 20, and in the APC 2022 New Year Message, both signed by the Secretary, Senator John Akpanudoedehe, there was confirmation that planning for the National Convention has commenced.

Lukman noted that members and the general public had been put on notice that relevant committees would be set up, but pointed out that the major gap was that no date or details of Committees, their membership and terms of reference, were given.

The party chieftain therefore said, largely, because of the gap, the public speculation was strong that the Convention might not hold in February, and described as worrisome, speculations about the convention, which had been allowed to create doubts as to when it would hold.

“Inability to commence the necessary planning to hold the Convention and communicate it to members and all stakeholders, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as required by the law is what is responsible for all the suspicion and speculation that the Convention may not hold in February 2022 as earlier announced.

“If the CECPC is not interested in the postponement of the Convention from the agreed February 2022 date, why is it difficult to make a formal announcement about the date and venue of the Convention? Statutorily, by the requirement of the Electoral Act, the party is expected to serve at least 21 days’ notice of the Convention to INEC.

“Which basically means that if the Convention is to hold any day before February 28, 2021, the notice to INEC should be given on or before February 7, 2022. That being the case, the temptation could be to argue that there is more time. Some reminders would be necessary at this point,” he said.

He said the speculation about the convention not holding in February 2022, began to gain grounds, when a letter written by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu to Buni dated December 13, 2021, called for the postponement of the convention, adding that Kalu’s suggestion basically meant possible extension of the tenure of the CECPC by another six months.

Lukman said it was very difficult to understand the logic of such a recommendation, and that, going by the recommendation, it meant the committee would be saddled with the additional responsibility of organising all party primaries for all positions for the 2023 elections.

According to him, if Anambra 2021 governorship election was any reference, the argument about avoiding ‘rancour and litigation’ could not be sustained, given that on December 20, 2021, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja ruled that Senator Andy Ubah, was never a candidate of the APC in the Anambra 2021 governorship election following a suit filed by one of the aspirants of the APC, Chief George Moghalu, who argued that the party failed to conduct a valid primary.

“In the end, with the support of the CECPC, Senator Andy Ubah, was the official candidate of the party. Had APC won the Anambra 2021 governorship election, the December 20, 2021 High Court judgement clearly indicated that another Zamfara would have played out. All these are confirmation that management of internal party contest during party primary are being handled very recklessly even by the CECPC,” he said.

Unfortunately, Lukman lamented that, since the Anambra election, no party organ had met to review what has happened, warning that, with Ekiti and Osun governorship primaries about to hold and managed by the CECPC, there is the urgent need to appeal to all party leaders to learn the appropriate lessons and avoid the crude show of power whereby candidates of the party are imposed without following party and electoral rules.

The director-general was of the opinion that anyone campaigning for ‘presidential primary and election of National Working Committee members’ to hold ‘on the same day and venue’ simply want a situation whereby any possible dispute around presidential primary would submerge the emergence of leaders (NWC members) of the party.

Lukman said this might lead to an ugly scenario being set up by those campaigning for the postponement of the convention, which is the possibility that all candidates of the party from all the 36 states of the country to be submitted to INEC by the same NWC members whose elections may be disputed.

“Once that is the case, we would have succeeded in making the 2019 Zamfara electoral disaster a national phenomenon in 2023. Is that what the CECPC members under the leadership of His Excellency, Mai Mala Buni want to subject the party to?” he queried.

He said while the caretaker committee did a good job in conducting the membership registration and revalidation exercise, relevant department in the party’s national secretariat is not able to competently take the process of preserving the membership records of the party to the point whereby party membership is displayed or can be accessed, in any way possible.

“With the emergence of the CECPC in June 2020, His Excellency Mai Mala, has done an excellent job by bringing down tension within the party. Sadly, all the good work of the CECPC under His Excellency, Mai Mala, is about to be destroyed once it yields to the temptation of staying longer than February 2022.”

Lukman noted that the only reason why some leaders, perhaps including the members of Committee, are attracted to campaign for postponement for the convention was the belief that any candidate, who emerged, whether elected or imposed on the party could win the 2023 elections, saying, “this is a big lie!.”