Uduegbunam Chukwujama
Although no form has been sold to candidates vying for national offices ahead of the February 26 National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) , impeccable sources within the ruling party and the Presidency have just confirmed that the convention will hold as scheduled.
Schedule for the party’s February 26 national convention stipulates that candidates eyeing various party positions should collect nomination forms between February 14 and 19. But Prime Business Africa has it on good authority that President Muhammadu Buhari who jetted out of the country on Tuesday for the EU-AU Summit in Brussels, Belgium, had reconfirmed his earlier approval for the agreed zoning arrangement expected to emerge on February 26.
The president, according to reliable sources, will, upon his return to he country, meet with APC governors on Tuesday for final authentication of all agreed terms.
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The reconfirmed zoning arrangement for the ruling party’s national offices is in line with what Prime Business Africa reported barely three months ago, to the effect that all positions would be swapped between the North and South, meaning that the chairmanship position would go to to the North while the South takes the office of the national secretary. The swap takes cognisance of substantive positions during the tenure of the ousted chairman Adams Oshiomhole, who is from the South.
The current caretaker committee chairman Mai Mala Buni is holding the position in acting capacity and, therefore, does not hold a substantive slot for the North.
It was also gathered Tuesday night that, owing to the brewing crisis regarding the zoning arrangement, a lot of horse-trading and concessions are being made and the party, in conjunction with the Presidency, is now working assiduously to come up with a ‘unity list’ that will equally respect the agreed zoning arrangement.
The unity list, sources familiar with the entire plan told Prime Business Africa, will only work to achieve a consensus based only on personalities that would emerge from the designated zones for each of the national offices.
This Newspaper can report authoritatively that North Central will produce the Party Chairman, while the National Secretary will emerge from the Southeast.
The Southwest has been designated to produce the National Publicity Secretary while the Northeast is tentatively penciled down for the position of National Organissing Committee Chairman.
Prime Business Africa reports that the APC has already conceded the office of the Deputy National Chairman to South South.
