2019: APC Govs move to reorganise ruling party

• To meet Buhari on need for National Convention
• Top party chieftains seek Oyegun’s exit

••• State governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have set machinery in motion for rebuilding the party to avert looming implosion capable of impacting negatively on the chances of the ruling party in 2019, The Daily Times can now authoritatively report.

The re-organisation of APC being planned by the governors may likely lead to the ouster of the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who is alleged to have lost the confidence of top members and hence has outlived his welcome as the party chairman.

Findings by our correspondent also indicate that the governors in wider consultations resolved to impress it on the National Executive Committee (NEC) of APC to convene a National Convention specifically by October this year for election of a new set of national officers of the party, against all odds.

On the forefront of the plans for reorganisation in APC are the Chairman of the Governors Forum and Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, other state governors: Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna); Abdullahi Ghanduje (Kano); Aminu Masari (Katsina) and Yahaya Bello (Kogi).

The APC governors, according to report, are angry that since the past three years, the national officials of the party had never deemed it necessary to convene a national convention, where pertinent issues bothering on the well being of the party should have been addressed with new plans set for progress of the party in government.

According to the APC’s constitution, the party is to hold its national convention every two years, whereas the National Executive Committee of the party is also to hold once in three months. However, the last time the APC’s NEC held was in March 24, 2015.

 The National Chairman had severally been accused of frustrating all efforts aimed towards holding the party’s National Convention as part of scheme to save his seat despite allegations of incompetence leveled against him.

Party members in separate chats with The Daily Times also said the APC governors who have been meeting monthly on the state of the party refused to hold their meeting scheduled for last Thursday, preferring to have an audience with President Muhammadu Buhari to brief him on the poor state of affairs in the ruling party.

President Buhari had arrived Nigeria last Saturday from medical vacation in London and is expected to hold series of meetings with top shots of the party on the issues at stake in the weeks ahead.

It was learnt that the APC governors are set to mobilise their colleagues to formally meet Buhari any moment from now to impress it on him the necessity for a National Convention meant to pull the falling house of the APC together.

A National official of the APC also hinted that the party’s National Secretariat was indeed jolted by the new development in the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the opposition party has resolved to deploy all tricks towards taking power from the ruling APC in the next presidential election.

The PDP had a week ago, held a non-elective National Convention in which the major stakeholders including former President Goodluck Jonathan, his former Deputy, Namadi Sambo and other top shots attended, thus demonstrating a renewed commitment to edge out the present APC -led federal government in the next poll in 2019.

Indeed, the APC governors are said to be resolute in ensuring that the next national convention of the party holds in October since the National Secretariat is expected to close for Sallah break early September and after which the 21 days notice to INEC for the convention must have been served.

The APC governors, according to report also agreed to hold talks with all aggrieved leaders of the party including the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and others who are being perceived to be sitting on the fence on the APC matters at the moment.