APC Approves 19 Sub-Committees to Oversee National Convention

    Chairmen, secretaries to be inaugurated March 7

Charles Ajunwa

With 19 Sub-Committees and a secretariat to provide Support/Technical Services all made up of 1, 562 selected members, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is ready to conduct a hitch-free National Convention on March 26, which will produce the party’s National Working Committee (NEC) members. 

The composition of the Sub-Committees for the National Convention of the party was approved by the Chairman of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Governor Mai Mala Buni, after a series of consultations.

The Secretary of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe who signed the approved list of the Sub-Committees obtained by THISDAY, enjoined the party members to disregard all previous communications on the matter.

Akpanudoedehe also said that the Chairmen and Secretaries of the 19 Sub-Committees would be inaugurated on Monday March 7, 2022, at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja by the Chairman of CECPC, Governor Mai Mala Buni.

The approved National Convention Sub-Committees are as follows: Central Coordinating Committee has 12 members with Governor Mai Mala Buni as Chairman and Senator John James Akpannudoedehe as Secretary; Secretariat to Provide Support/Technical Services has eight members with Abdullahi Yusuf Gashu’a as Chairman and Dare Oketade as Secretary; Screening Committee has 88 members with Governor Abdulrasaq Abdulrahman as Chairman and Mr. Shuaibu Aruwa, SAN, as Secretary; Screening Appeal Committee has 88 members with Governor Hope Uzodinma as Chairman and Dr. Danjuma Adamu Dabo as Secretary; Election/Planning Committee has 87 members with Governor Aminu Masari as Chairman and Chief Ikechi Emenike as Secretary.

The Election Appeal Committee has 86 members with Governor Dapo Abiodun as Chairman and Mr. Moses Okezie as Secretary; Legal Committee has 88 members with Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami as Chairman and Juliet Ibekaku as Secretary; Accommodation Committee has 88 members with Governor Bello Matawalle as Chairman and Dr. Zainab Gimba as Secretary; Venue/Decoration/Site Servicing Committee has 88 members with Governor Dave Umahi as Chairman and Senator Stella Oduah as Secretary; and Transportation/Logistics Committee has 88 members with Governor Simon Bako Lalong as Chairman and Hajiya Ireti Kingibe as Secretary.

Others are Media/Publicity Committee has 87 members with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as Chairman and Kingsley Fanwo as Secretary; Security/Protocol Committee has 89 members with Governor Yahaya Bello as Chairman and Gen. Dahiru Abdulsalam (rtd) as Secretary; Accreditation Committee has 89 members with Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege as Chairman and Hon. Godwin Afangideh as Secretary; Entertainment/Welfare Committee has 89 members with Deputy House of Representatives Speaker, Ahmed Idris Wase as Chairman and Ahmed Bala as Secretary.

The Medical Committee has 89 members with Governor Ben Ayade as Chairman and Hon. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu as Secretary; Budget Committee has 88 members with Governor Inuwa Yahaya as Chairman and Mr. Umana Okon Umana as Secretary; Finance Committee has 88 members with Governor Badaru Abubakar as Chairman and Senator Margaret Okadigbo as Secretary; Accreditation of Volunteers/Diplomats/Diaspora/Observers Committee has 88 members with Governor Umar Ganduje as Chairman and Abike Dabiri Arewa as Secretary; Digital Communication Committee has 88 members with Governor Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai as Chairman and Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi as Secretary; and Convention Legacy and Rapporteurs Committee has 46 members with Governor Bagama Umaru Zulum as Chairman and Prof. Al-Mustapha Ussiju Medaner as Secretary.

Giving insight why APC had to delay its National Convention, an insider at party’s office in Abuja Senator Abubakar Gada told THISDAY that “as a ruling party, the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led CECPC of the APC knows that it cannot afford to tow the line of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which was inconclusive.”

This is because, according to Gada “the PDP is still conducting its Zonal Congresses after its so-called National Convention.”

Another chieftain of the APC, Hon. Kingsley Falawo, the Commissioner for Information in Kogi State told THISDAY that if APC were to go ahead with the National Convention without the Zonal Congresses the costs and indications will be enormous due to “APC status as a ruling party in the country.”

He insists that APC has to tie up all the loose ends and wonders why “people are eager to pull the party into a cul-de-sac. Why will APC give people weapons to go to court where this can be avoided.”