Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress on Sunday resolved to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari over the twin issues of National Convention and Electoral Act.
The twin issues had divided the members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, leading to a late night meeting.
At the meeting held at the Kebbi State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, no fewer than 17 of the governors were present.
The meeting, which started around 8pm, saw the governors divided along the lines of those who want it held before Christmas and those pushing for the second quarter of next year.
Those in attendance included the host and Kebbi State Governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, and his counterparts from Kogi, Nasarawa, Katsina, Plateau, Ekiti, Jigawa, Kano, Kwara, Imo, Borno, Ebonyi, Lagos, Zamfara, Niger, Ogun and Cross River.
The PGF had at its meeting on November 9 said that adopting Direct Primaries by political parties would overstretch the Independent National Electoral Commission.
NAN reports that the National Assembly adopted Section 87 of the amended electoral bill currently awaiting the assent of President Buhari.
That section stipulates mandatory direct primaries for all political parties.
However, at PGF last meeting, Bagudu said that INEC’s decision to make it mandatory for political parties to elect their candidates for elective positions through direct primaries was undemocratic.
According to him, it will limit the parties ability to choose their desired options.
Direct primaries involve the participation of all party members in the selection of candidates, while indirect primaries involves the use of delegates who are mostly leaders and executives at the ward, local government and state levels to elect the party’s candidates at congress or convention.
Speaking after Sunday’s meeting, Bagudu said the Governors had elected to meet with Buhari on the issues.
He told newsmen that as the leader of the party, the President was in a pole position to resolve all concerns raised at the meeting.
He, however, could not give a timeframe for when the meeting would be held.
