Many top leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were absent at the long-awaited National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, yesterday, as President Bola Tinubu appealed to aggrieved elements in the party, urged them to be calm, and promised not to let them down.
The NEC meeting, the first since President Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023, and Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje appointed chairman by the party’s NEC, following the resignation of Abdullahi Adamu, was held at the Buhari House APC national secretariat, Abuja.
Former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai and that of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, who was also ex-Minister of Transportation, are some of those who have openly expressed umbrage at the state of affairs in the party.
The duo of Amaechi and el-Rufai, former President Muhammadu Buhari, and his Vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo were among APC NEC members who were absent at the meeting.
However, those present included Vice-President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio; House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, and Minister of Budget and National Planning, Abubakar Bagudu.
Governors in attendance included Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Monday Okpebholo (Edo), Lucky Aiyedatiwa (Ondo), Hyacinth Alia (Benue), Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Mai Mala Buni (Yobe), Usman Ododo (Kogi), and Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Umar Namadi (Jigawa), Mohammed Bago (Niger), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), and deputy governor of Ebonyi State.
Former governors who attended included Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Bello Matawalle (Zamfara), and Simon Lalong (Plateau).
Addressing NEC members, Tinubu, who got confidence vote from the NEC, scored himself high and expressed delight that food prices were coming down in the lead up to the Muslim month of Ramadan.
He also approved the setting up of reconciliation committees in all the states, as well as relocation of the party’s national secretariat which he said had become “too small.”
Already, the party leadership said it had formally applied to the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, for a land for a new secretariat and its Progressive Institute.
Tinubu said: “I have heard your various remarks on how we have strengthened the security of our sovereignty and food security in the country. I am grateful to all Nigerians for the electoral successes we have recorded from one state to another and I am also happy for the various people joining us in the National Assembly.
“On the economy, I am happy food prices are going down, particularly during this Ramadan period.
“Let the NEC find a way to celebrate our progressive ideals and I promise you, our governors and Nigerians, that we will sustain these progressive changes.
“Everywhere in the world, especially in Europe, we have economic shocks and we are doing everything possible to address them.
“The place we are gathering today is too small for us and I agree with you that we need a bigger location. I think the Minister of National Planning is here, we will discuss with the minister in charge and we will do something about it.
“The National Working Committee, NWC, is doing a good job and I am happy with them. In all the various states, let us set up reconciliatory committees to liaise with these aggrieved leaders. I am appealing to them, please be calm. I am very happy and I promise not to let any of you down.”
Earlier in his remarks, National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje, who got a confidence vote, spoke on his achievements in the last one and half years, adding that the party leadership was focused on winning Anambra and Osun states governorship elections.
Our focus is now on Anambra and Osun states and in compliance with the time-table released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the party has already begun preparations in earnest for the conduct of primary elections in Anambra scheduled for April.”
He said the party has also embarked on reconciliatory moves which, he said, were already yielding positive results.
“We have also embarked on massive reconciliation of aggrieved party members, and this move is gradually yielding desired positive results for the party.
“Through dialogue, we have initiated high-level discussions among party leaders and other stakeholders, with a view to resolving lingering differences among our members.
‘’The conflict reconciliation committee which you are about to approve will build on this,” he added.
Governor Uzodinma of Imo State moved the motion and it was seconded by Senator Adams Oshiomhole, a former national chairman of the party, as NEC passed a vote of confidence on Ganduje and the party’s NWC.
Ganduje also said he inherited debts and legal liabilities to the tune of N8,987,874,663.00 billion from cases, ranging from legal engagements during the pre-election matters, election cases and appeals for legislative, governorship and presidential elections.
“While the National Legal Adviser has been making frantic efforts towards reducing the debt burden through dialogue and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, we still passionately appeal to the National Executive Committee to intervene accordingly. It is important to note that some of our accounts are still garnisheed,” he stated.
APC, under the chairmanship of Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, had reportedly purchased the current national secretariat of the party, but Ganduje said yesterday the place had become too tight and that the party’s Progressive Institute is operating from a rented apartment.
He said: “As part of our commitment to secure and own a national secretariat complex befitting of a ruling party and one that will conveniently accommodate our national officers, the newly established Progressives Institute as well as the three wings of the party, we have formally applied for a land at Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, to drive this project.
‘’May I, therefore, appeal for the kind intervention of Mr. President for this project to materialize.”
At a post-event news briefing, party spokesman, Felix Morka, played down concerns about the absence of some top members of NEC, saying there was no way the meeting could have recorded 100 per cent attendance.
He also said NEC had now formally approved the zoning of the party’s national chairmanship seat to North-West, a development which has now put paid to agitations by some chieftains from the North Central who had constantly accused the party of arbitrarily naming Ganduje, from the North-West, as chairman, instead of picking someone from the North-Central to complete the tenure of Abdullahi Adamu.
On the absence of some leaders, he said: “As far as I know, I have never known a caucus meeting or NEC meeting of our party to be attended one hundred per cent by all the members and I am not sure there is really any political party where you have 100 per cent attendance was such meetings.” He said the party held its NEC at the convenience of the president whose itinerary was crowded.
“Be rest assured that every member of the caucus and NEC was invited. The list of members today was comprehensive. As a matter of fact, we enlarged the list for the meeting today. We had more members invited than we did previously,” he stated.
Morka also asked Malam Nasir el-Rufai to respect his status as a former minister and former governor, saying if he continued to engage, people had a right to also reply him.
While noting that contrary to el-Rufai’s claims, all organs of the party were functional, Morka said in spite of the former governor’s status, he occupied only one seat in the party.
His words: “All organs of the party are working. On what the former governor of Kaduna State said, there is a difference between party men and people who speak because they have a grievance.
“Grievance-driven commentaries are not to be taken seriously. It was clear from all the comments that the former governor has an axe to grind.
“But for today’s (yesterday) meeting, I was prepared to respond to the former governor and to suggest to him that some of his recent engagements are unnecessary for someone who occupied the position he has occupied in this country.
‘’Men who are respected must also continue to justify the respect they get. It is not a good idea that once you are dissatisfied, especially when it comes to personal experiences, then you want to discuss your personal grievance on the system of a political party.
“El-Rufai is just one person. Yes, he is a former minister and former governor, he has been up there but at the end of the day, he is just one person in the party’s scheme.
‘’He is a highly respected citizen but my advice and counsel to him is that he needs to speak in a manner that is befitting of his status. Otherwise, if he continues to engage, people have a right to reply.” – Vanguard.
