National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun
Leaders of the All Progressives Congress on Thursday failed to reach a decision on the zoning of political offices.
They met at the Rivers State Governors’ Lodge at Asokoro, Abuja all through Wednesday night and the early hours of Thursday.
The leaders however adjourned the
meeting after considering the party’s performance in the last general
elections as well as the way forward for this week’s re-run elections in
Abia, Imo and Taraba states.
It was learnt that they felt more consultations were needed before a final decision could be taken on position sharing.
A highly placed member of the party, who spoke to The PUNCH about the meeting, explained that the APC leadership was only being meticulous.
The member, who asked not to be named
because he was not authorised to speak on the issues discussed at the
meeting , said, “We have to be careful in dealing with such sensitive
issues because we must carry everybody along to eliminate the
possibility of having aggrieved members who could be used by our
opponents.
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“If
you remember, the President-elect, (Muhammadu Buhari) has promised to
be the President of those who voted for and against him and even those
who did not vote. And in keeping with this promise, we want to come up
with what is fair to all like we have done so far. We may meet again
today(Thursday) or tomorrow(today).”
The PUNCH however gathered
that the APC National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, was mandated to
meet with the serving and elected lawmakers of the party to feel their
pulse on the zoning of the principal offices in the National Assembly.
The meeting which was scheduled for Thursday was postponed for an undisclosed reason.
When contacted by one of our
correspondents, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Lai
Mohammed, said, “Like I told you yesterday (Wednesday), our leaders only
met to discuss party issues, there was no National Working Committee or
National Executive Council meeting. “When we hold such a meeting, we
will let you know.”
The APC leaders at the meeting were
the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari; the Vice-President-elect, Yomi
Osinbajo; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a former Lagos
State Governor, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu.
Others were a former National Chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, Ogbonnaya Onu, publisher of Leadership Newspaper,
Sam Nda- Isaiah; the Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum,
Rochas Okorocha, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi; Nasarawa State
Governor, Tanko Al-Makura, and Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole.
The Chairman Senate Committee on
Millennium Development Goals, Ali Ndume, and the governorship candidate
of the All Progressive Grand Alliance for the April 25 re-run election
in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, made surprise appearances at the national
secretariat venue of the meeting.
Ndume, who is among those being tipped
for a leadership position in the incoming 8th Senate, held a
closed-door meeting with some leaders of the party.
He later told journalists that the
North-East where he comes from was seeking for the highest available
office. The lawmaker added that as genuine party members, they were
prepared to abide by whatever decision the party arrived at on the
matter.
He said, “Anything that is given to us
will be okay. We have contributed so much as a zone. We even prefer to
be given the best but we know that the best cannot be given to all.
“For instance, we prefer to be given
even the presidency but that has been given to another zone and the
vice- president also to another zone.
“The party is considering all these and
we are pushing our case. It is left for the party to decide what is in
the best interest of the country which is what the party stands for.”
It was not clear why Otti was at the
venue of the meeting with the leaders of the APC but insiders believe
his visit was to consolidate on a working relationship he has developed
with the APC.
Meanwhile, a member of National
Executive Council of the APC told one of our correspondents that the
South-East would not produce any principal officers in the Buhari
administration.
The NEC member said the inability of the
region to produce a senator or a member of the House of Representatives
in the April 11 elections shut out the zone from producing any
principal officer.
The NEC member, who spoke on condition
of anonymity, explained that the idea of picking a Peoples Democratic
Party senator-elect or House of Representatives-elect as a principal
officer was impossible.
He said, “The national leader of the
APC, Asiwaju Tinubu, has gone to the US. He will also be in London. If
Senator Chris Ngige had won his election into the Senate, he would have
been an automatic candidate for the senate presidency.
“There’s no way a PDP senator or federal
lawmaker would be selected for any of the principal posts which include
the senate presidency, deputy senate presidency, speaker and deputy
speaker. You cannot be a senate president or speaker if you are not a
ranking member of the leading party in the House.”
