President, Shettima, Osinbajo, others to attend NEC meeting today in Villa
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met with governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday evening, as consultations intensified over the appointment of a new national chairman of the party.
The closed-door meeting, held at the State House conference hall, began at about 7pm and was attended by members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), led by its chairman and governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma.
Wednesday’s parley precedes Thursday’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the APC, which is scheduled for 2pm at the Banquet Hall of the State House.
Top on the agenda is the selection of a substantive national chairman to replace Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who resigned last month amid mounting pressure from within the party.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the North Central geopolitical zone is poised to produce Ganduje’s replacement, with former Nasarawa State governor and founding APC chieftain, Senator Tanko Al-Makura, emerging as the frontrunner in ongoing internal consultations.
Party sources disclosed that President Tinubu is keen on building consensus around a candidate that reflects regional balance and loyalty to the party’s current reform agenda.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, PGF Chairman Uzodimma said the visit served a dual purpose: to formally condole with President Tinubu on the demise of former President Muhammadu Buhari and to strategise ahead of the NEC meeting.
Uzodimma explained further: “We also came to share some ideas with Mr. President on how best to strengthen our party at the grassroots, at the local government, at the state levels, up to the national level. So it’s just a convivial discussion with Mr. President towards strengthening our party and to be able to help serve Nigeria better.”
When asked if the NEC meeting would produce a consensus candidate for the national chairmanship, Uzodimma declined to speculate.
“It is a National Executive Committee meeting,” he said. “We cannot say what the outcome will be. When you come there tomorrow, you will see it.”
The APC, Nigeria’s ruling party, has experienced internal strains over the last year, particularly around questions of leadership legitimacy, zoning, and inclusion.
Party watchers view Thursday’s NEC meeting as critical to restoring cohesion and setting the tone for upcoming off-cycle elections.
President, Shettima, Osinbajo, others to attend NEC meeting today in Villa
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will lead other party stalwarts to tomorrow’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), including Vice President Kassim Shettima, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, some former governors, and members of the National Working Committee (NWC).
There are indications that today’s NEC meeting would feature a short session in honour of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, as this is the first major APC meeting after his death.
The session is among other major agenda items already pencilled for deliberations at the NEC meeting.
The APC leadership yesterday shifted the NEC venue from the party’s national secretariat, Buhari House, to Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting, where the issue of a substantive national chairman of the party will also be discussed, is expected to have expanded participation since the National Caucus, which normally precedes the NEC, is not holding in this instance. However, according to party sources, some members of the caucus are expected at the NEC.
The APC traditionally holds a National Caucus meeting a day before the NEC, but that tradition is now being set aside due to logistics issues, according to party sources. This necessitates expanding tomorrow’s NEC to include some members of the party’s National Caucus.
According to the APC Constitution, members of the party’s NEC are national chairmen, deputy national chairman (north), deputy national chairman (south)
national secretary, deputy national secretary; six national vice chairmen, one from each geo-political zone of the country (to be also known as zonal chairmen)
national legal adviser; deputy national legal adviser, national treasurer, deputy national treasurer, national financial secretary, deputy national financial secretary, and national organising secretary.
Others are deputy national organising secretary, national publicity secretary, deputy national publicity secretary, national welfare secretary, deputy national welfare secretary, national auditor, deputy national auditor, national women leader, deputy national women leader, national youth leader, deputy national youth leader, special (physically challenged) leader, zonal secretary, zonal youth leader, zonal organizing secretary, zonal women leader, and states’ chairmen of the party
Similaryly included as the president and vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who are members of the party; Senate president and deputy Senate president, who are members of the party; Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who are members of the party, and state governors, who are members of the party
The majority or minority leader, party whip, and their deputies in the Senate and House of Representatives who are party members will also attend.
Two serving Senators from each geo-political zone of the country, who are party members, are to be nominated by the Senators from such zone.
Three members of the House of Representatives from each geo-political zone of the country who are members of the party are to be nominated by members from such zone.
There are also six ex-officio members, of whom one each shall be elected by the National Convention from each of the six geo-political zones of the country; serving chairman, deputy chairman and secretary of the board of trustees (BOT).
APC Moves NEC From To Presidential Villa
Meanwhile, the APC on Wednesday evening shifted the venue of its National Executive Committee (NEC) scheduled for Thursday from the party’s national secretariat, Buhari House, to Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja. The meeting time was given as 2pm.
APC national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, who announced this in Abuja, said the change in venue of the NEC meeting was for logistical reasons.
“The change of venue from the Party’s National Secretariat – 40 Blantyre Street, Wuse II, Abuja, to the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, is due to logistical reasons,” he explained.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the NEC, which is the highest decision-making body of the party, will pick
substantive national chairman or allow the acting one, Hon. Ali Dalori, to remain in that capacity till the party’s National Convention expected to hold in December.
This development followed Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s resignation as the APC national chairman in June, thereby leaving the seat vacant.
With the instruction of President Bola Tinubu, the then APC deputy national chairman (North), Hon. Dalori assumed the position of acting national chairman. He presided over the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) meeting, which approved July 24 as the date for the NEC meeting to pick a new national chairman.
Consequently, the race for who occupies the exalted seat had begun in earnest with some top politicians reportedly engaging and lobbying party leaders and members of the NEC to sway the position in their favour.
These include: former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Umar Tanko Al-Makura; former governor of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye; former Benue North East lawmaker, Senator Barnabas Gemade; and Prof. Muhammad Kailani.
Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State, had occupied the office until his resignation and the appointment of Ganduje in August 2023.
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