Buhari To Meet APC Governors Over National Convention

Baring any last minute changes, President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to meet with governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) tomorrow at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

It was gathered that the meeting, initially scheduled to hold last Tuesday, was put off shortly before the President jetted out of the country on a four-day official visit to Brussels, Belgium to attend the EU-AU Summit.

Sources, yesterday, said the rescheduled meeting at the behest of Buhari would critically address unfolding issues besetting the party before the national convention fixed for Saturday, February 26, 2022.

It was also learnt that the date might no longer be feasible as it was less than a week away with no programme put in place by party’s stakeholders.

It was further gathered that the meeting with the President, led by the Chairman of the Interim Committee of the party and Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, with 20 other APC governors in attendance would table another possible date and other logistics for approval by Buhari.

The interim leadership of the party was said to be pushing for the convention to be moved by two weeks to mid March but it will have to seek the approval of Buhari in his capacity as the leader of the APC.

This was the same step the Buni-led interim committee took last December when it approached the President to approve the February 26 date, which the President agreed to.

The same scenario may play out as the President may accede to the extension of the date for the convention being proposed by the party.

Last week Tuesday, some governors reportedly turned up at the State House for the meeting with the President before they learnt about the postponement at the last minute.

Most of the APC governors were said to have arrived Abuja Monday for the Tuesday meeting before they heard of the cancellation through the Progressive Governors Forum, which is the umbrella body of APC governors.

Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, who was sighted at the Villa earlier on Tuesday left immediately he learnt that the meeting had been postponed.

Other governors sighted at the State House last week included Ben Ayade of Cross River State; Yahaya Bello of Kogi State; Hope Uzodinma of Imo State and Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, who were said to have used the opportunity of the visit to discuss issues affecting their various states with the President.