Amid reports of a disagreements within the top echelon of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC regarding the composition of its Presidential Campaign Council PCC, governors of the party on Wednesday passed a vote of confidence on the PCC and the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee NWC of the party.
Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi state who briefed journalists after after hours of the tripartite meeting with the NWC and the PCC at the Buhari House national secretariat of the party.
The development came as a member of the PCC berated the Adamu-led NWC for asking for greater inclusion in the campaign council, saying in the history of the APC, this is the only time the NWC is fully participating in the activities of the council.
“Let us cast our minds back to 2018/19. How many members of the then NWC were in the campaign council? Only three. The National Chairman, Woman and Youth Leaders.
“This time around, we have many of them having high level positions in the council. You have the National Chairman, The National Secretary, the two Deputy National Chairmen, the six zonal National Vice Chairmen, the National Organizing Secretary ams several others in the council.
“We have bent backwards to accommodate them but what some of them are asking is to be allowed to make more personal nominations into the council.
“The meeting we just had was for participants to ventilate their grievances. We have resolved to go into the election as one family”, said the PCC member who attended the meeting.
Apart from Bagudu, other governors at the meeting were Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano); Abubakar Badaru Mohammed (Jigawa); Simon Lalong (Plateau and Director General of the PCC): Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger) and Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa).
Equally at the meeting was a former National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and directors at the PCC.
Vanguard gathered that the meeting deliberated on the postponed zonal tour by the six National Vice Chairmen and also discussed modalities for the proposed “APC National Conference” which it intends to convene before the end of the year.
The national conference is part of its campaign activities which is geared towards reeling out achievements of the party since 2015.
Vanguard gathered that the meeting also deliberated on the composition of the campaign council.
The PCC directors present at the meeting and who had earlier met with some of the governors on Wednesday night, were said to have assured the NWC that all grey areas in the campaign council list have been addressed.
Speaking on the outcome of the meeting, Bagudu said; “What I will say is Governors of the APC, members of the presidential campaign council visited the Chairman and the NWC members to strategize and discuss on campaign and the chairman briefed us about the party and we appreciate how well our party has been doing in the polity”, he stated.
Asked whether APC Governors are displeased with the PCC as presently constituted, Bagudu said; “Governors are very very proud of our party. We are very very proud of our party leader, President Muhamadu Buhari. We are very proud of the conventions that produced both our national chairman and our presidential candidate in person of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the vice presidential candidate in the person of Kashim Shettima.
“We are very proud of the actions of the national chairman and the NWC. We are very proud of the actions of the Presidential Campaign Council.
“We are happy that we are discussing even though there was a list, and that was unfortunate, that is the campaign (council list) which the party would have announced. It was a mistake but I am happy that the party is solidly behind our candidate and whatever lists that have come out erroneously, we believe it will be sorted out”.
On his part, Adamu said the NEC is comfortable with the current arrangement regarding the PCC and that the party would work in accordance with guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to flag-off its campaigns and other activities.
He said; “We are very very comfortable. We have established machinery for resolving anything. We are together with the Governors’ Forum and PCC. I believe this meeting we had is more than useful to us. For us, nothing short of victory and that is the spirit of this meeting”.
Asked about the commencement of campaigns, Adamu said; “Don’t be faster than your shadow. The fact of the matter is, we as a party, as APC we will determine when we will do what as long as it is within the framework of INEC’s guidelines’. (Vanguard)
