The national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) formerly expected to take place in a week’s time is no longer feasible and the party is considering a new date, POLITICS NIGERIA can authoritatively confirm.
Recall that after the tenure of the Governor Mai Mala Buni-chaired committee was extended twice and February 26th was picked as the convention date but highly placed sources within the party told this newspaper that the President’s silence on his preferred candidate to occupy the Chairmanship seat is one of the reasons for the postponement.
“You know the President is just back from Brussels and no preparation has been made for the convention to hold as planned. It will surely be extended. It would have held if the President had made a choice regarding the next Chairman of the party.”
Another source disclosed that state Governors have not yet made financial commitment as of the time of filing this report.
“You know the convention is very expensive to plan and requires commitment. No state has dropped money as I’m talking to you. If they haven’t dropped money in less than seven days to the D-day, how are we supposed to go about the planning, not to mention holding the event?”
The source also attributed the lack of financial commitment to the power tussle at different state levels.
POLITICS NIGERIA had in previous reports, examined the power play and division in Osun, Kwara, Imo, Delta and other state branches of the party with unending feud.
For instance, in Kwara, the rift between the wing led by the Governor of the state, Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq and another championed by the information minister, Lai Mohammed, has stalled the conduct of the Kwara APC convention.
Multiple sources have said that the national office of the party will continue to intensify peace-making efforts while another date will be announced in the new week.
However, when contacted, the spokesman of the party, Yekini Nabena, said that the APC might give a new convention date in coming days, owing to some circumstances.
Nabena, who spoke with our correspondent on Sunday, was silent on Buhari’s non-alignment and the power struggle in some states.
According to him, the possibility of a postponement is there because some states are conducting by-elections on the same date.
The mouthpiece of the party also denied poor planning reports, saying that “everybody is working”.
