APC NWC, Governors Meet Today to Decide on Convention

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will today meet with governors elected on the platform of the party to fine- tune plans to hold the national convention.

Today’s meeting which was confirmed by the Media and Publicity Unit of the party yesterday, would consider new date for the convention for subsequent presentation to the next meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) for ratification.

Two previous plans to hold the mid-term convention were cancelled due to several factors one of which was the poor state of party finances.

However, APC governors at their last meeting with the National Working Committee (NWC) pledged to henceforth wade into the matter and to help galvanise financial support to enable the party fund the NEC meeting and mid-term convention.

Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, while stating the resolution reached at their meeting with NWC a fortnight ago, said the governors have agreed to meet every month with the NWC to try and foster better relations between the national and state leadership of the party and to work towards strengthening the party

“The 24 APC governors has committed to working assiduously at strengthening and rebuilding the party and enduring reconciliation and unification of the party at all levels. We also resolved to give the national leadership all the support it needs. We will also engage in fund raising from our donors, sympathizers of the APC to ensure that the national headquarters and indeed all organs of the party have the wherewithal to continue the difficult work of rebuilding the party,” he said.

The party’s NWC had reached a decision to hold a NEC meeting before the Muslim Ramadan in order to consider a new convention date but that plan was shelved last minute due to unresolved issues between the Presidency and the party. THISDAY gathered that the initial budget for both events was put at about N700 million, an amount many of the stakeholders considered outrageous.

Some members of the ruling party have raised eyebrow over the continued delay in holding the NEC meeting and the mid-term convention which they said amounted to a breach of the party’s constitution.

Article 25 (A)(i) of the APC constitution state, “that the National Convention of the party shall be held once in two years at a date, venue and time to be recommended by the NWC and approved by the NEC subject to the giving of the statutory notices to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and at least 14 days notice given to members eligible to attend.”