From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Strong indications emerged last night of a serious crack in the ranks of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) ahead of its proposed March 26, national convention.
The simmering crisis within the party’s leadership, according to our source, may have posed a challenge to the proposed convention as the Governor Abdulrazak Abdulrahaman-led zoning committee billed to submit its report to the party’s leadership today has put it on hold indefinitely.
A source revealed that miffed by the strong division, a member and Governor of Niger State, Sani Bello, has threatened to convene an emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) to facilitate the sack of the committee.
“There is serious crisis rocking the party. All is certainly not well with members of the Caretaker Committee. As I speak, there is a sharp division among the members. It was so bad that the Governor of Niger State, Sani Bello, has threatened to convene an emergency NEC meeting to propose the sack of the Caretaker Committee.
APC is in serious crisis and the situation has relegated the forthcoming convention to the background. The zoning committee report billed to be submitted on Monday (today) has been postponed indefinitely. In fact, I cannot also say with certainty whether the March 26 is still sacrosanct,” our source said.
While confirming the fresh crisis currently rocking the party, former APC spokesperson, Yekini Nabena, in a statement, described Governor Bello as the political vultures not only working against the ruling party but also planning to cause anarchy in the ruling APC.
“I am using this medium to call on our leaders across the states to caution Governor Sani Bello of Niger state. The presidency should also call him to order to immediately drop the plan to convey a NEC meeting without the knowledge of Governor Mai Mala Buni and the Secretary of the CECPC, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe.
“The likes of Governor Bello are the political vultures working against our party and to cause anarchy in the ruling APC. Governor Sani Bello is neither the Chairman nor Secretary of the National Caretaker Committee. So, where did he get the power to convey such meeting? Governor Bello should not destroy the ruling APC because of his personal political ambition to become the Vice President or whatever in 2023,” Nabena warned.
Nabena cautioned Governor Bello that the “greater interest of the majority of the party members should be bigger than his personal ambition for the 2023 general elections.”