The party’s leadership adopted the zoning report received from the Zoning Committee led by Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazak on Tuesday, according to Abubakar Bello, the Acting Chairman of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee and Governor of Niger State.
This comes after he announced that the party’s National Executive Council would meet next week to finalize plans for the March 26 National Convention.
On Tuesday, shortly after a meeting with CECPC members at the Party’s National Secretariat, Bello revealed this to journalists.
“The zoning formula report has been submitted and adopted, and it will be released any moment now,” he said. I’m referring to the zoning formula.
“Hopefully, the NEC meeting will take place next week.” It’s a follow-up to yesterday’s meeting. And, just so you know, we’ll be meeting every day until the convention to put things together, so you won’t be asking me the same question tomorrow.
“Basically, today we looked at the convention sub-committee and collected some of the committee’s reports in the hopes of deciding on the next step to take tomorrow.”
“Today wasn’t particularly eventful,” he observed.
“Ask him,” Bello said when asked if former CECPC National Secretary Dr John Akpanudoedehe is still part of the party’s new leadership.
Only Buhari has the power to force me to resign – Akpanudoedehe
Meanwhile, news of the Secretary’s resignation threw the National Secretariat into disarray.
While confusion reigned in some quarters, our reporter witnessed jubilation in others.
Earlier, the Secretariat had received reports that Akpanudoedehe had resigned angrily due to internal controversies.
However, Akpanudoedehe quickly returned to the Secretariat to tell journalists that he had not resigned and that he would only do so if the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, instructed him to do so (retd.).
“I have read on social media that I have resigned as Secretary of the APC,” Akpanudoedehe said on Tuesday evening. I’d like to state unequivocally that I did not resign. If I had resigned, you would have seen my resignation letter, which I had written myself. When someone is alive, it is impossible to say he is dead.
“I am not greater than the party, nor am I greater than the president, who is the party’s leader.” I’m awaiting the return of the national chairman.
“If we receive a directive from the president to resign, we will do so if we hear from him. We are not bigger than the president.” I’m going to say right now that the breaking news isn’t from me. I’m not sure who made the announcement.”
“Our relationship is very cordial,” Akpanudoedehe said when asked about his relationship with the Acting Chairman.
“I don’t have any load,” he said in response to reports that he had moved his victuals out of the party grounds. I’m here for a while and then I’m gone. I’ve never changed the furniture in my house. This is an official photograph. I haven’t brought anything with me. I have not received any correspondence.
“It’s not possible to say, ‘the president said.'” I have not received any correspondence from anyone. As I previously stated, no one is bigger than the party. The problem is that the answer to the question of whether or not I resigned is no. I am the party’s national secretary.”
PDP warns aspirants to enter the APC at their own risk.
In response to the APC’s recent leadership changes, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday in Abuja warned political aspirants vying for various positions on the party’s platform against “wasting their resources, time, and energy,” claiming that the CECPC lacks statutory authority under the law and that any State Congress or National Convention it holds is void.
Under current laws, the APC is “legally defunct, structurally crippled, and no longer a legitimate and valid vehicle” to field candidates for elections, according to the main opposition.
This came after Abubakar Bello, the governor of Niger State, was appointed acting National Chairman of the CECPC in Abuja on Monday.
stated this in a statement titled ‘Leadership crisis: APC is defunct, not eligible to contest elections-PDP’, which he signed on Tuesday.
“The PDP draws the attention of intending APC aspirants to the fact that the CECPC has no statutory authority under the law, and any State Congress or National Convention held by it to produce any party leadership at any level remains invalid and unrecognized by law,” Ologunagba said.
“As a result, any Governorship, State Assembly, National Assembly, or Presidential Primary election conducted by any leadership produced by the illegal CECPC will only produce invalid candidates, just as the APC had invalid candidates in the 2019 general elections in Zamfara and Rivers States due to faulty primaries.”
“As a result, our Party urges aspirants and supporters planning to run for the APC in the 2023 general elections to read the writing on the wall and not waste their resources, time, and energy in the APC.”
The main opposition, which described the APC as legally defunct, argued that the President’s unilateral dismissal of Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni and replacement of his Niger State counterpart, Abubakar Bello, as Chairman of the CECPC confirms that the CECPC is an illegal creation lacking statutory powers, authority, and legitimacy of party leadership.
“With two National Chairmen, multiple factions in the states, and a national secretariat now taken over by security agencies, the APC is plagued by confusion and fierce infighting by its various warlords, with no National Working Committee, National Executive Committee, Board of Trustees, or legitimate structures in the States,” it said.
“Moreover, the APC’s CECPC, whether led by Governor Buni or Governor Bello, remains constitutionally invalid due to Section 183 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which prohibits a sitting governor from holding ‘any other executive office in any capacity whatsoever’ while serving as a State Governor.”
Chairmanship: Adamu’s endorsement is rejected by the APC Muslim Forum.
Meanwhile, under the auspices of the APC Muslim Integrity Forum, some APC stakeholders protested Abdullahi Adamu, the former governor of Nasarawa state, as the next National Chairman on Tuesday in Abuja.
The President, Major General Buhari (retd. ), has reportedly given his approval to the pioneer Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, ahead of the APC National Convention, which has sparked controversy in several quarters.
During a press conference, Abubakar Yusuf, the forum’s National Coordinator, urged the President and other party leaders to investigate the lawmaker’s past activities, integrity and commitment, age and physical fitness, and role as a proponent of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third-term agenda.
According to Yusuf, the APC’s anti-corruption, integrity, and good governance ideology cannot support Abdullahi Adamu as national chairman because it will be used against the party during election campaigns.
“They’ll laugh at us and make fun of our party’s integrity.” We urge President Muhammadu Buhari to scrutinize Abdullahi Adamu’s person and past activities, as well as his integrity and commitment, age and physical fitness, and role as the spearhead of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third agenda.
“A man who does not believe in democratic principles cannot be an effective party administrator, especially in a crisis-plagued party like ours during an election year.”
“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari and all of our party’s leaders to withdraw their purported endorsement of Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, given his badly tainted records, age, and the requirements of the National Chairmanship, with the goal of replacing him if such an alleged endorsement exists.”
The APCMIF, which claimed that Adamu was not the only Muslim candidate for chairmanship in the Northcentral, urged party leaders to back other candidates such as Umar Al-Makura, Sani Musa, and Saliu Mustapha.
“The fact is, Abdullahi Adamu is not the only Muslim from Northcentral Nigeria; we have people like Umar Al-Makura, Sani Musa, and Saliu Mustapha, among others, who can do the job,” the statement continued.
“Senator Adamu’s age should also be considered; he lacks the physical energy and charisma required of a National Chairman of a governing party in a country like Nigeria to travel around the country and sit for long periods of time.”
