APC Governors Still Divided Over Zoning of Party Offices

*Buni expected to come up with list of offices across board

*Party names Buni, Abiodun, Sanwo-Olu, Abdulrahman, others in convention sub-committees

*Governors meet tomorrow, likely to deliberate on election timetable

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Peter Uzoho

A prominent governor of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, said division has continued to plague the party over the zoning formula that was made public last week.

Some of them argued the list was sprung on them and the party never adopted it before it was announced. They have, therefore, argued that it could not stand, thus dismissing the zoning arrangement in circulation as mere suggestion.

They also argued that it was not governors who should announce zoning of party offices; that it should be the function of the party and not governors.

However, while they have agreed that the next chairman of the APC should come from the north and the party’s presidential candidate from the southern part of the country, its leaders, mostly governors, were not comfortable with the zoning formula for other positions in the party, THISDAY learnt yesterday.

“It is the issue of the deputy chairman and others that they are dealing with. Under the current arrangement, they want to retain John James Akpanudoedehe as secretary; Ken Nnamani as Deputy National Chairman and make Farouk Aliu Deputy Chairman, north, which is where the conflict is, because the north-west governors don’t want him to be deputy chairman,” the source explained yesterday.

The acting Chairman of the Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the party, Mai Mala Buni, was expected to come up with a zoning arrangement of offices across board to deliberate upon and perhaps adopt, but that is yet to happen.

But, with the release of INEC timetable, which has left little room for any further machination, there is renewed urgency to get things done quickly. Between the March 26 date for the party’s convention and beginning of primary season on April 4, according to INEC timetable released on Saturday, there is no enough time for the expected new NWC of the party to prepare for the primaries.

However, APC governors would be meeting tomorrow, and their meeting is not be unconnected to the election timetable recently released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the unusual duration between primaries and the general election.

The governors are also likely to deliberate on the contentious zoning list that is receiving a lot of pushback from party stakeholders.

According to the THISDAY source with knowledge of the happenings in APC, who preferred anonymity, the division in the party was telling, adding that some three governors from the north had usurped the powers of the CECPC.

He said what was widely circulated as zoning formula was no more than a proposal by some elements in the party, which was yet to be approved by the Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of APC.

The source claimed that, contrary to the impression being created by those promulgating the unofficial zoning formula, it was just an idea mooted by some people and sold to the party leadership.

He contended that the zoning arrangement had not undergone proper review by critical stakeholders, let alone getting the approval of the APC leadership led by Buni.

According to the source, who was not pleased with some of the recent happenings in the party, the three governors, also from the north, have literally seized the powers of the caretaker committee and were driving the affairs of the party, thereby undermining Buni, for obvious self-interest.

The source said some of the meetings of the party leadership last week agreed on a new convention date, adding that President Muhanmadu Buhari, might have settled for a former governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Adamu, from North Central, as the consensus choice for national chairman.

The source, thus, noted that the next president of the country would come from the south for the purpose of geo-political and ethnic balancing, stressing that anything short of this basic understanding could spell doom for the party.

These, nonetheless, the APC, last night, named the Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege; Mai Mala Buni, Prince Dapo Abiodun, Abdulrasaq Abdulrahmnan, Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and Governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, as Chairmen of the national convention sub-committees amongst others, ahead of the party’s convention slated for March 26.

But in further explaining the involvement of his three northern colleagues in issues relating to the national convention, the source said, Buni had never taken any decision without consulting Buhari, whom he said was Chairman of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party.

The three governors, he claimed, had been railroading the party’s leadership into taking many decisions without consulting other members. He contended that this did not augur well for the APC, as these actions had been mostly driven by personal ambition rather than the overall interest of the party.

The governor said, “Obviously, a few governors are trying to usurp the powers of the party. For instance, the postponement of the national convention and the zoning list announced to the press, the governors and other stakeholders of the party never discussed or agreed on it; we just heard it in the media.

“As far as some of us are concerned, that zoning list making the rounds is only a proposal by those few governors. The party may well adopt it or may set up a zoning committee, which to some of us is the right thing to do. The ideal thing was for us to have set up a zoning committee that would agree on the zones to allocate the party positions to.

“So, by announcing a list that was not agreed on as the party’s position, was more like an imposition. No decision was taken. The president only said all he wanted was to make sure we have a consensus. No decision and they just went and organised a press conference with a zoning list.

“The proper thing is for the party to have a zoning committee that would consult and arrive at the zoning formula. Even if they are going to arrive at the same answer, they must be seen to have consulted with members of the party. That is very important so that our party is not seen as a party in confusion, like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would like to make Nigerians believe.

“There was a meeting to announce the postponement of the convention and some governors were unhappy that the convention was being postponed and they were not aware and that really got the governors upset.”

The governor also disclosed that based on the decision to zone the APC national chairman to the north, the party’s presidential candidate must come from the south.

His words, “The presidential candidate is going to come from the south and it is likely going to be a Christian presidential candidate. You cannot have the chairman of the party to be a Muslim and a presidential candidate a Muslim, it is not possible.

“And if the presidential candidate is a Christian, the vice is going to be a Muslim from the north, invariably, you cannot have a Christian vice president from the north, when the presidential candidate is a Christian.”

The source, who further buttressed his position with the setting up of zoning committee by the party, contended that he had been vindicated by that development, adding that the route earlier taken was synonymous with placing the cart before the horse.

While condemning the activities of the three northern governors, he said the Buni-led committee should be commended for the stability it brought to the party. He claimed that a lot of the APC governors were happy with Buni, because of how he had been able to resolve the disputes in the APC states without undermining the governors.

He stressed, “But some have remained antagonistic and have been scheming to have their way obviously, because of their selfish political interests and despite benefiting immensely from Buni’s decision to recognise the excos.

“The truth is that Buni didn’t betray the governors, because this same man, if not for him, most of the governors would not have had their excos as the recognised party structures in their states. He made sure every governor got what he wanted, which is unprecedented.

“The governors would have been battling with their contenders or the former governors in their states. But Buni made it favourable for the governors by making sure that right from the ward to the state EXCO levels, the governors have those they wanted in charge.

“This same man (Buni) was also able to bring in the Zamfara, Ebonyi and Cross River governors, to the party. So, Buni has helped in stabilising the party. That was why when some persons were accusing him of misconduct and were making noise, the man said he would resign if they continued the noise and everybody calmed down.”

The source, however, reiterated that Buhari wanted the chairman of the party to come from North-central and has settled for Adamu as the next party chairman as well as the deputy chairmen, a decision he said the president had communicated to the CECPC.

“However, Buni told the president that he wants to retain the Secretary of the CECPC as the party’s secretary, which he has agreed to, but when some governors heard it, they were up in arms, because everybody as you know has different interest.

“Everybody wants to have party leadership that they feel would do their bidding, because we all have our different ambitions,” he said.

On sub-committee membership for national convention, the party, in a short statement, named other members of the sub-committees as Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, among others.

National Secretary of the party, Senator John Akpanudoedehe said the 20 sub-committees constituted by the party were in line with the schedule of activities for the National Convention as resolved by the caretaker committee.

The party noted that each of the committees, except the Central Planning Committee, had a 12-man team with all Caretaker Committee as members.

The party added that the Secretariat Support Committee had a seven-man team, while the Accreditation Committee has 41 members and other committees were made up of 40 members each.

According to APC, the Central Planning Committee is chaired by Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni; Screening Committee is chaired by Kwara State Governor, Abdulrasaq Abdulrahmnan; while the Election Committee is chaired by Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

Mr. Emmanuel Emeka is the secretary.

Governor Hope Uzodima heads the Screening Appeal Committee, Governor of Kastina State, Aminu Bello Masari would serve as Election Appeal Committee chairman, while the Legal Committee is headed by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.

Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle heads Accommodation Committee, while Venue/Decoration/Site Servicing Committee has Governor David Umahi of Eboyin State as its chairman, and Governor Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau State heads Transport/Logistics Committee.

Governor of Gombe State Inuwa Yahaya will chair Budget Committee, and Finance Committee is headed by Governor Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State, while Digital Committee has Kashifu Inuwa as chairman, and Convention Legacy and Rapporteur Committee has Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum as chairman.

Other committees are: Media/Publicity headed by Sanwo-Olu, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State heads the Security/Protocol Committee, while Entertainment/Welfare Committee has Deputy Speaker, Hon Ahmed Wase, as chairman. THISDAY was reliably informed that some alterations may still be effected on the list.

APC had earlier fixed February 26 for its national convention before it was rescheduled last week after a meeting of the party’s governors with Buhari.
At the meeting, the party also agreed to zone the national chairmanship position to the North-central, while the north would swap other party positions with the south as obtained in the Adams Oshiomhole National Working Committee (NWC).