State Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are billed to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari in their bid to pressure him to seek re-election in 2019.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the meeting which has been fixed for 2 pm, may also deliberate on some national and party issues including the President’s disapproval of tenure elongation for APC national executives.
It would be recalled that the governors had on Feb. 22 met behind closed doors, after which the President pledged to address the nation on whether he will seek re-election in 2019.
The Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo, who spoke to State House correspondents on the outcome of the February meeting, said the president was to address the caucus of the APC on the matter.
“We discussed so many issues that affect the nation, our party and Mr. President’s ambition to run for 2019 elections.
“Anyhow, Mr. President in his usual manner has requested that we give him time and that he will address the nation and the caucus of the party very soon.
“So we should be full of expectations that Mr. President will make officially known to Nigerians his intentions.
“But we hope that his response will be in line with what the governors are thinking,’’ Okorocha said after the February meeting.
It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari met with the APC Governors on Tuesday, April 3, 2018, and on the agenda was the extension of the tenure of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun as APC Chairman and those of other members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
On March 27, 2018, President Buhari cancelled the tenure extension for APC officials as agreed by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), a month before.
Buhari said the extension of Oyegun’s tenure violated the party’s constitution and could lead to acrimony within the APC.
The extension, Buhari had said, “contravenes both our party constitution and the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.
“If we deviate from the constitutional provisions, we might be endangering the fortunes of our party. If the tenure of our party executives can be legally faulted, then it means that any nominations and primary elections that they may conduct, can also be faulted”, the president had added before a stunned house.
The decision of Buhari to overturn NEC’s decision on Oyegun’s tenure, led to some shouting inside Aso Villa on Tuesday, as tempers flared.
“I am not sure what happened inside the chamber could be called a real meeting, they were simply fighting,” an unnamed source told Premium Times afterwards.
When Rochas Okorocha and the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Abdulaziz Yari emerged, they declined questions and said nothing to the press, which is unusual after a meeting of that nature.
Governors Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and Simon Lalong of Plateau said the Governors had agreed “not to speak to the media.”
The Cable reports that on their way out, one of the Governors was heard screaming: “Some people think they are tall but they can never control us. Never!”
No resolution was reached at this meeting, apparently.
According to The Cable, “the president had to reschedule the meeting, asking the Governors to pick another date”.
Neptune Prime was told that Buhari’s re-election was also on the agenda ahead of the meeting. However, it is unclear if that item was touched before the meeting devolved into a shouting match.
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