The national executive committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday extended the tenure of the party’s caretaker extraordinary convention planning committee led by the governor of Yobe State, Mr. Mala Buni by six months.
According to Punch, the decision was taken at a meeting of the committee attended President Muhammadu Buhari, the vice president, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, and other party chiefs.
The governor of Kaduna State, Dr Nasir el-Rufai, told journalist at the end of the meeting that the APC also approved the expulsion of its former national vice chairman, south-south, Mr. Hilliard Eta, for his failure to withdraw the court case instituted against the caretaker committee.
The governor said the party also dissolved states, zonal, and national party structures.
Earlier, Buhari said the caretaker extraordinary convention planning committee of the APC led by Buni had succeeded in bringing a new atmosphere of hope to the party.
He also asked the leaders to respect party decisions.
He said he was delighted at the efforts of the 13-member committee set up on June 25, 2020 adding that many party members who had earlier defected from the APC had returned while others had also declared for the party.
He said what was needed now was for party chiefs to display discipline and sustain the tempo.
“I have received periodic briefings from the caretaker extraordinary convention planning committee, as well as other leaders of the party.
“I am convinced that in the last five months, since the appointment of the caretaker committee the initiatives taken have brought remarkably new atmosphere of hope in the party.
“Healthy debates are now taking place and the potential for organs of the party to affirm majority positions as the decision of the party is now possible.
“What is required now is for all of us as leaders of the party to maintain discipline and ensure that this new momentum is protected, sustained and the decisions of party organs are respected by every member.
“Despite the challenge to restore peace in the party and the series of elections at hand, the fact that we have gained more members and that we are not losing members to the opposition under the present interim leadership, indicates improvement of the party.
“In fact, we have begun to win back our members who left us and other notable political leaders are being attracted to our party,” he said.
He appealed to the party’s chieftains at all levels to try and make the required sacrifices so that “we are able to collectively restore our progressive and democratic political party, which can nurture and give expression to our collective dream of building a strong, united and developed Nigeria.
“May I use this opportunity to remind all of us of the need to recreate our negotiation secret of 2012, 2013 under our legacy parties. What guided our success to achieve the merger that produced the APC was the respect we were able to have for each other.
“In those times, decisions reached at both formal and informal consultations were respected with trusted initiatives taken and believed that they were needed to produce the required political platform that could guarantee electoral victory.
“Every one of us as leaders ensured that those decisions were respected. I have through consultations of the caretaker committee and other leaders of the party agreed that our challenges in the party require that we take steps to rebuild the party from wards to national levels.”
