May send delegation to London to assess situation
From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Today, governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the National Working Committee (NWC) will meet in Abuja, to discuss issues affecting the party.
Top of the agenda, Daily Sun gathered, is the alleged refusal of some aides of President Muhammadu Buhari, to allow top-ranking members of the NWC access to him in London.
President Buhari left Nigeria on January 19, 2017, to London, on medical vacation. He was scheduled to resume duty on February 6 but, on Sunday, February 5, the president transmitted another letter to the National Assembly, extending the medical leave indefinitely.
A source at the APC national secretariat told Daily Sun that “NWC members are not happy with the fact that they were relegated to the background, especially the refusal by a cabal in the Presidency, to allow them visit the president in London. Some NWC members were actually prepared to travel to London to visit Mr. President last month but, the cabal refused to approve the trip on the excuse that the president won’t be allowed to see them. I can tell you that all is not well in the party and all these will form part of the discussion during the meeting,” the source added.
It was also gathered that some NWC members may push “for a formal, party delegation to be raised, to visit the president in London.
In his reaction, National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, confirmed the meeting will take place but described it as “a consultative one ahead of the national convention.”
He added that “they would equally likely deliberate on other national issues that might crop up during the meeting.”
The APC spokesman maintained that it was purely a consultative one to discuss issues ahead of the convention, and added: “Certainly, the meeting will come up on Thursday and I can confirm to you that it is just a consultative one ahead of the party’s national convention.”
Asked if other issues might be discussed, he replied: “Well, I am not ruling out the possibility of discussing other issue that might crop up during the meeting. I know very well that in the course of the consultative meeting other issue will certainly come up.”