A
move by some governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress
to use the platform of the National Executive Council of the party to
endorse President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term failed on Tuesday.
The APC NEC is the second highest decision-making body of the party after the national convention.
Signs
of what was in the offing became apparent early in the day as some
governors known to be close allies of the President extended a campaign
they began at an event organised by the Buhari Support Organisation in
Abuja on Saturday.
In separate interviews with reporters
at the APC National Secretariat, the venue of Tuesday’s NEC meeting,
the Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Owelle Rochas
Okorocha; his Plateau and Kebbi counterparts, Simon Lalong and Atiku
Bagudu, respectively said only Buhari had what it would take to fly the
party’s flag in 2019.
The governors spoke before the commencement
of the NEC meeting. Lalong said all the governors had agreed to work
towards the President’s re-election in 2019.
He said, “Concerning
the issue of sole ticket for Mr. President, I want to say that if Mr.
President is performing, well-respected and carrying everybody along,
all of us have resolved that we will work for him.”
He then asked
a rhetorical question, “Do we have any other person that will challenge
the President again? Whatever you call it, as far as we are concerned,
we have one President and that is the ticket we will fly.
“I want
to assure you that you won’t see a wrangling party after the meeting.
From now onwards, it will be focused governance from Mr. President and
all the governors from the states. We have all resolved to support Mr.
President.”
His Kebbi State counterpart, Atiku Bagudu, who was
also responding to a question on whether the governors had resolved to
give the President an automatic ticket, said, “The performance of the
President in the last two and half years suggests that if he wants to
contest, l will certainly support him and l know that our party members
feel the same about him.”
However, the governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura, expressed a slightly different opinion.
While
responding to a similar question, he said, “For anybody to preempt the
consensus opinion of the people is to say the least not fair to the
vision of our party.
“I can tell you if there is anything that is
clandestine, the President will not honour it. So, let’s wait and see
as we embark on these meetings.
“I believe the consensus and the
preponderance of opinion of all party members will be what is good for
this country and we have already known the will of this country, the
future of this country as we are now as a country is associated with one
person, who is impeccable, who has the greatest amount of integrity
that you can find in any human being around; so, your guess is as good
as mine.”
Also speaking on the issue, Okorocha, who is also Imo
State governor, said only a decision by President Buhari to contest the
2019 election could make him drop his personal presidential ambition.
He
said, “If Mr. President wants to run for election, he will follow all
the processes and if he is the person, we will all support him. In APC,
there is no imposition of candidate.
“If Buhari is running, I
will allow that man to continue but if he is not running, I won’t
sacrifice my Presidential ambition. Mr. President is showing the right
leadership and taking the very right steps and there is reconciliation
going on even with nobody talking about it. There is the spirit of
reconciliation and people understand their role.
“Our role is to
make this party great and we are all trying to do that; but importantly,
the governors have remained the pivot upon which this wheel of change
has rotated so far. We have kept this party working and after this
meeting, our congresses and convention will commence in the early part
of next year and all party organs will be strengthened. We are in good
mood and high spirits.”
During the meeting proper, one of the
party members moved a motion asking that a vote of confidence be passed
in the President and that he should be endorsed as the party’s candidate
for the forthcoming presidential election.
This however failed
to sail through. The party members felt that considering the fact that
aggrieved members had yet to be pacified, doing so would escalate
tension in the party and adversely affect its chances.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, confirmed this while speaking to newsmen after the NEC meeting.
He
explained that the Tuesday’s NEC meeting was not about the 2019
elections but that there was a motion asking that first, a vote of
confidence be passed in the President and then he should be endorsed as
the party’s candidate for the 2019 election.
Dogara said,
“Today’s meeting was not about 2019 elections. When we talk about 2019
in the context of the agenda you saw, we are talking about membership
registration, the drive for membership and others. We are not talking
about elections.
“Even though there was a motion on the floor
that called for a vote of confidence in the President, some of us felt
it was not necessary because there is nowhere that his confidence is
shaking.
“But the motion was taken and passed. But there was a
second leg to that motion which calls for the adoption of the
candidature of the President, but it was deferred for now and no
decision was taken because that is not the major reason why we are
here.”
He further explained that the party had yet to agree on a
date for its inaugural bi-annual national convention because details
were still being worked out.
The Speaker noted that some of the grievances expressed by party members were normal in every family.
He
stressed that there was no family without its internal squabbles; and
noted the challenges were being handled and would soon be resolved.
Similarly,
the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi,
explained that a member of the party’s NEC made a move for a confidence
vote in the President after a briefing by the Minister of Agriculture,
Chief Audu Ogbeh, about the activities of his ministry.
Abdullahi
said, “One of the NEC members said we should move a motion passing a
vote of confidence in Mr. President. There was no formal motion moved on
the issue of second term for Mr. President.
“Somebody in the
crowd shouted that we should move a motion and we don’t even know that
member. But the motion that was formally moved was that NEC should pass a
vote of confidence in Mr. President and that was after the brief given
by the Minister of Agriculture, especially when he said that by 2018,
Nigeria would have no need to import a single grain of rice. That is the
context and I need you to understand that very well.”
He added,
“The only discussion or conversation on 2019 was the activity of the
party in 2018, especially the issue of convention. It was agreed that
since we have all these activities lined up, including the
mini-convention, congresses and elective convention, a small team be set
up to put dates to these party activities up to 2018.
“There was
no discussion about election of 2019 or who will be the party flag
bearer. The committee will decide when all these activities will take
place.”
Abdullahi also said a vote of confidence was passed in the Chief John Odigie-Oyegun National Working Committee of the party.
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