There is disquiet in some sections of the All Progressives Congress (APC), following the extension of the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) for additional six months by presidential fiat.
President Muhammadu Buhari approved the new timetable, giving the committee another six months grace without the endorsement of the party’s national executive committee.
The president’s ‘unilateral’ action is, however, brewing bad blood and grumblings among some party faithful, who said such singular act was illegal and in contradiction with the laws of the party.
According to some insiders, there ought to have been a properly constituted NEC to take such a decision.
The NEC of the party comprises, among others, the national working committee members, the President as the leader of the party, the Vice President, Senate President, Speaker as well as some principal officers of the National Assembly, and the governors on the platform of the party.
Reports indicate that there was no NEC meeting with the full members constituted to approve the extension, even though the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) passed a vote of confidence in members of the panel for “their outstanding performance” in rebuilding the party.
However, according to the insiders, the presidential fiat exhibited by Buhari ought not to be as the party is not a parastatal or an arm of government or an extension of the presidency to warrant such action.
They noted that there ought to have been a properly constituted NEC meeting of the party to pass or make such decisions.
“Though the President is the leader of the party, under the APC constitution and the laws of the land, he does not enjoy such prerogative’, said a top member of the APC, who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation.
Another stalwart faulted the naming of the APC House after President Buhari, claiming that the whole idea and decision is wrong.
A chieftain, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, “It is not moral to name the APC House after the President, because he is a sitting president, still carrying out executive functions of the office and country and not the party alone”. He also wondered why the president would consent to the extension of the caretaker committee when he only recently said that no single individual should dictate the fate of the party.
The president had during a recent television interview said that no one had the power to decide for the party on zoning.
“You cannot sit there in Lagos, for instance, and decide on the fate of APC on zoning,” Buhari said during an interview with Arise TV on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the party, Yekini Nabena, said there was nothing wrong with what President Buhari or the Governor Buni- led convention caretaker committee had done.
Nebena explained that the party had wide consultations with all its critical stakeholders, following which the President approved additional six months for the committee. The move, Nabena added, was to enable the committee to conclude its work on the party’s convention.
“The President acted as the leader of the party and all necessary consultations were made before that additional timeline”, he stated.
According to him, the party is putting all necessary machinery in place so that no member of the party will be pushed around or taken for granted.
He also disclosed that he was not aware of any complaints or protests so far concerning the extension approved for the convention committee.
On naming APC House after the President, the party’s spokesman said there was nothing wrong with the decision.
He explained that though it was natural to name a house or an edifice after anybody, in this case, the party took time to eulogise the President by naming the edifice after him since it was he who brought the party to government.
“It was through Buhari that the APC came to government, so naming the APC House after him was a good way to eulogise him”.