APC Aspirants ask Buhari to stop party’s National Convention

The Forum Of All Progressive Congress (APC) Aspirants For National Convention, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the National Convention of the party.

The Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has fixed March 26 for the National Convention of the party.

But the APC Aspirants in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, insisted that going on with the convention will lead to an internal crisis in the party.

The Aspirants in the letter jointly signed by the forum’s President and Secretary, Chief Tolulope Ashafa, and Alhaji Usman Adamu, called on President Buhari to as a matter of urgency, halt the national convention of the party.

The letter reads: “Nigerians are elated when Your Excellency assented to the Electoral Act 2022. In the recent political history of Nigeria, there have been very few other developments that united Nigerians across the political, ethnic, and sectarian spectrum as the signing of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2022 into law did.

“The palpable satisfaction of Nigerians in this regard is attributable to the assurance they now have that Mr. President is committed to far-reaching political and electoral reforms, consistent with the campaign promises that brought him into office. Nigerians further feel reassured that the amended Act has ushered in a regime of a level playing field in the contest for public offices in the country.

“However, amidst the jubilant notes coming from Nigerians is the ominous prediction that the Electoral Act 2022 will sound the death knell of our great party, the All Progressive Congress (APC). We did not rush to dismiss this gloomy prediction as mere ranting by the opposition. We took time to analyze their assertion and tragically it has a prophetic ring to it unless the APC takes urgent measures to right the wrongs that have become mainstream in the party in recent months.

“Your Excellency, the prediction that the Electoral Act 2022 will cause the demise of the APC is anchored not on the content of this piece of legislation but the unholy manipulations going on in the party. Before you assented to the law, these underhand dealings by some over-ambitious leaders of the party would have gone unnoticed, unreported, and possibly without consequence. However, the Electoral Act has changed this dynamic, and our great party must now abide by the latest version of the electoral law it midwifed.

“We crave your patience to recall the near toxic wrangling over the timing of APC’s National Convention. But for the wisdom of Mr. President, who sided with critical stakeholders on the need to hold the convention at a more auspicious time, a gang of state governors had arrogated the power of decision to themselves and were going to force the gathering through without minding the consequences on the party, the country’s democracy, and Your Excellency’s image.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Governor Mohammed Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, and Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi state are among the members of the cartel that has put its interest over that of our great party by trying to forcefully conduct the convention in a manner that would have sabotaged the APC but for your timely intervention.

“Furthermore, it is on record how these governors, exploiting the name of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) and dropping Mr. President’s name, promoted the name of one candidate above the others in a manner that completely negated the neutrality that Your Excellency has embodied in the handling of political decisions in the country.

“Tragically, it is now apparent that because these governors got away with their previous rebellious acts against the party and their undermining Mr. President’s position, have now been emboldened to attempt reversing the stability that has been restored to the party in the last couple of weeks with the postponement of the convention. We have it on good authority that these governors have perfected plans to bring the convention forward by holding it earlier than planned and agreed. The development would make the APC unable to give the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the 30-day notice required by law for it to hold the Convention.

“The governors have placed the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) under so much pressure that it is now most likely to oblige their blackmail and hold a hurried convention that would turn out catastrophic for the APC. They have browbeaten the CECPC to the point where the Committee is now at the mercy of the PGF and is most likely to do anything they desire.

“Your Excellency, the APC Aspirants’ Forum is constrained to inform Mr. President through this platform of the dangers inherent in the plan by the PGF, which is a small cartel of overambitious state governors, to bring the APC National Convention forward. If they succeed in holding the convention on an earlier date than originally planned and fail to give INEC the required 30-Day notice:

“The APC will fall short of the Electoral Act, which has strict timelines by the constitution. The import is that whatever decision the party takes at the convention would be null and void to the extent that it is not in conformity with the provisions of the Electoral Act as assented to by Your Excellency. This is what the opposition is already gloating about because it will hand them automatic victory without dissipating energy for electioneering as the APC would have by default knocked itself out of the contests.

“APC has just three (3) months to hold the national convention and conduct primaries to submit the list of candidates to INEC. The party cannot hold two national conventions within 90 days. The waste of resources and dissipation of energy would be simply too much.

“The raging crises and contentions in the party, which have been significantly managed by the CECPC, would flare up again such that APC would turn against itself in the 2023 General Elections. This is another outcome the opposition is basing its hope upon as it expects to absorb those that would be angered to defect from the APC.

“Such unhealthy development will place a huge question mark on Mr. President’s intentions, integrity, and sincerity as Nigerians and the entire world would wonder why Your Excellency signed the Electoral Act 2022 if your party would not abide by its provisions.

“Given the animosity that has built up and the manner the state governors have incited and caused people to be incited, there is the risk of less than peaceful scenarios that would be further compounded by the poor living conditions in the states overseen by these governors. The security the strain the nation has been under cannot accommodate such additional provocations.

“As a matter of urgently securing Mr. President’s legacies, we urge that the above potential outcomes must be prevented at all costs by ensuring that the APC National Convention is not brought forward as the PGF is planning. Instead:

“The National Convention should rather be scheduled for a time that allowed the 30-Day notice to INEC.

“The date for the National Convention should be scheduled such that it doubles as the presidential primary of the APC, which would bring down costs in line with the desire of Nigerians to reduce the cost of electioneering.

“Stakeholders must concertedly call the PGF and its members to order with the specific instruction that they must allow the APC to existing organically in line with extant legislation and the party’s constitution.

“The CECPC must halt existing plans for the national convention and come up with a new template that combines the National Convention with the presidential primary while focusing on preparations for other primary elections.

“Your Excellency, in your capacity as the leader of the party, your prayer is that you direct the party and CECPC to halt the national convention and focus on our party primaries.”