From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
An All Progressives Congress (APC) pressure group, the APC Rebirth, has raised the alarm of fresh plot by the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) to extend the date for the party’s National Convention beyond next month, February.
The group claimed that in furtherance of the agenda to continue the extension of its six months mandate, now running into 19 months, the Buni-led Caretaker Committee has come up with another plot to deceive party members and buy time in order to further propagate its selfish agenda.
APC Rebirth, in a statement issued by the coordinator, Aliyu Aud, said that it has been reliably informed that the Caretaker Committee was behind various news report speculating the date for the convention.
It also warned that any attempt by the Buni-led Caretaker Committee to move the convention any further under any guise will be resisted by all means possible.
“The CECPC, having realized that no less than six states will be going to the polls for various bye-elections on February 26, 2022, decided to plant a February 25 date in the media, knowing fully well that the convention cannot be taking place at a time bye-elections in which the party would be participating will also be taking place across different states in the country.
“The real plot is to use the planted February date to buy more time, pretending it has no knowledge of the forthcoming bye-election; by which time it will be left with no option but to postpone the much-awaited February convention to another date. The CECPC will do this either by arranging a group of people to obtain a kangaroo court injunction hiding under the guise of exclusion by virtue of the bye-elections or simply ride on the excuse of limited time if any other date in February is to be chosen.
“In any case, the purported February 25 date, just like many other decisions that have been taken by the Caretaker Committee, was not a collective decision by members of the Committee. This is the reason it opted to plant the date in the media rather than coming out with an official position. We wonder why other members of the CECPC have continued to tolerate the unilateral decision-making and dictatorial excesses of the Chairman of the committee.
“We are bringing this new plot of the CECPC to public attention, just as we have done in many other instances, in order to re-awaken the consciousness of party members to the reality of Buni leadership of APC and to call on all those concerned to prevail on him not to toy with the February date for the national convention. If the CECPC is serious about holding the national convention, February 19 is a good date and the time to start preparing for it is now.
“Rather than planting dates and stories in the media, the CECPC should come out with a clear position and timetable for the much-awaited national convention. While we recommend February 19, 2022 as a feasible date for the convention that will give the APC a new set of elected National Working Committee members, we want to reiterate that any attempt by the Buni-led Caretaker Committee to move the convention any further under any guise will be resisted by all means possible.
“The APC Rebirth also use this opportunity to call for the rejigging of the membership of the Caretaker Committee. Aside from the obvious travesty of being in contravention of section 183 of the Constitution of Nigeria which forbids sitting governors from the membership of the committee, the continuous stay of Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State especially is a disrespect to our laws and morals.
“The governor, who will be standing as an aspirant in the forthcoming governorship primary election in Osun State cannot be a judge in his own case. He should therefore relinquish his membership of the Caretaker Committee, considering that CECPC may prepare and most likely conduct the primary election for the number one seat in Osun State.
“With our established reputation for respecting laws and rules, the APC cannot continue to disregard a clear constitutional provision as regards the composition of the Caretaker Committee. It is therefore incumbent on all APC leaders, especially President Muhammadu Buhari, to prevail on all the governors in the party’s Caretaker Committee to resign forthwith, the statement read
