Victor Ezeja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has scheduled to hold its national caucus and National Executive Council (NEC) meetings next week.
This was made known in separate statements signed by the APC National Secretary, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Bashiru.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelWhile the national caucus meeting is scheduled for 11th September at the Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, the NEC meeting will hold the following day being 12th September 2024 at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.
Bashiru said the planned meetings are in line with Article 11 of the APC constitution.
According to the party’s constitution, members of the NEC include the national chairman and deputy (both north and south), national secretary, president and vice president of the country, president and deputy president of the senate, speaker and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, and state governors, who are members of the party, among other party officials.
Prime Business Africa had reported last month that President Bola Tinubu directed the APC National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, to liaise with his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila on party activities, an attempt seen as steps towards taking over total control of the APC structure.
It is such that even party meetings like the NEC cannot be scheduled by the committee headed by the national chairman in line with APC’s constitution, without the approval of the president.
READ ALSO: Tinubu Seeks Total Control Of APC, Asks Chairman Ganduje To Work With Chief Of Staff
In a memo dated 9th August 2024, Tinubu’s Chief of Staff informed Ganduje that the president has granted an approval for the scheduling of APC NEC meeting.
According to the memo, the president directed the national chairman to fix the NEC meeting between first week and 19th of September when he will be available and should also include as one of the agenda of the meeting, the consideration of a date for a non-elective national convention of the party before the end of the year.
Considering the nature of the correspondence as shown in the memo, there have also been speculations that the meeting may be about changing the leadership of the party.
However, the APC national secretary countered the speculations, saying the meetings are not about regime change.
“None of these meetings is being scheduled for regime change in the party,” Bashiru said on Friday after a closed-door meeting between the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC and Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, who also serves as the Chairman of the North-central Governors’ Forum, at the party’s secretariat in Abuja.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
