The governing party in Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress, APC, says its legal department is sorting out all legalities regarding a letter of invitation sent to the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to monitor its forthcoming National Executive Committee, NEC meeting.
The APC spokesperson and National Youth leader of the party’s Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Mr. Ismail Ahmed, said this in a press briefing with journalists at the party’s Headquarters in Abuja.
Recall, contained in a letter circulating in the media, INEC rejected a letter from the APC inviting it to an emergency meeting of the party’s NEC to hold on March 17.
However, the APC Spokesman insisted that they have sent a notice to INEC regarding the meeting.
“What is the status of the NEC meeting that we signed. Professor Tahir Maman, overseeing the Legal Department, would address you once we clarify all these issues, but we have sent a notice out for the NEC meeting. We are still on that.” Ahmed said.
The NEC meeting will be held virtually to ratify some issues regarding the APC’s elective National Convention scheduled for March 26.
At the convention, Mr. Ahmed said that the APC had complied with all the rules and had appropriately notified INEC, adding that it was no longer an issue.
“We have served a notice to INEC for February 26 earlier. We served that notice on February 5, which was the required 21 days. If you will make any change to that date, all you need is a letter, making a change to the date. You don’t need another 21 days, and that letter was since written about two weeks ago, when we realised we couldn’t hold it on February 26.
“The moment, the CECPC agreed on March 26, that letter was written to INEC, INEC has accepted that letter. So that is long gone is not an issue. The date of the convention is not in question, not in INEC, not certainly with us. That is settled It is sacrosanct that March 26 and we have to comply with all the rules and we have notified INEC as appropriately expected for us to do that,” he said.
On the current position of Governor Mai Mala Buni as the APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, Mr. Ahmed, who said the governor was only on medical leave and would resume soon, advised the public not to doubt the fact of the governor’s medical leave.
He explained that since the inauguration of the CECPC on June 25, 2020, Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger had always acted in Governor Buni’s absence.
“It has always been the case; that has never changed. It has always been the case.
“And now we have a convention on March 26; the chairman wrote a letter to go for medical treatment and transmitted power to Bello.
“These are two emergencies. He has a medical emergency that cannot wait for the convention. We have a convention that cannot wait for him to be healthy, so one must leave for another.
“Gov Bello has been acting appropriately, and there is no problem about that,” Ahmed explained.
He emphasised that Governor Bello was acting as the APC National Chairman in place of Buni with the full authority of the APC CECPC, party’s stakeholders, leaders and with the full consent and knowledge of Governor Buni.
He appealed to the media to be responsive in their reportage and always verify the information before publishing.
Ahmed stressed that reports on social media should be taken with a pinch of salt, adding that the party’s leadership was always open to the press for clarifications.
