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APC Suspends Zonal Congress, to Release Zoning Formula As Akpanudoedehe Denies Resignation
The ruling All Progressives Congress has shelved its zonal congress, which was scheduled for Saturday.
This came to the fore on Tuesday as the party said it would soon release the zoning formula.
The PUNCH reports that the decision on the zonal congress was part of fresh moves to reverse some of the decisions made by the embattled Chairman of the Caretaker Committee, Governor Mai Mala Buni, whose role has now been taken over by Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State.
Although the APC has continued to evade questions on the zonal congress, a top source at the party said, “We have decided within the party not to talk about the zonal congress. It will not hold on Saturday and we have no plans to hold it. The truth is that it is unknown to the APC’s constitution.
“It was all part of Buni’s strategy to continue to delay the national convention just like how he has continued to release different zoning lists and different lists of committees for the convention. Now the new acting chairman will reverse some of these questionable acts.”
Confirming this to The PUNCH, the Chairman of Kwara state branch of the APC, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, said the zonal congress of the party would no longer hold.
He said, “I don’t think that the zonal congress will hold any longer as they said that it is not in the constitution of the party. So, probably, the party will make other arrangements. I’m not saying that the party will not have zonal officers.”
Meanwhile, the acting Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee, Governor Bello, says the party’s leadership on Tuesday adopted the zoning report it received from the Zoning Committee led by the Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazak.
He further revealed that the National Executive Council meeting which includes the governors, the state chairmen and other organs of the party, will meet next week to put in place modalities ahead of the March 26 national convention.
Bello further revealed that he would continue to hold meetings at the party’s national headquarters every day until the convention.
Speaking to journalists, he said, “The report of the zoning formula has been submitted and adopted and it will be released any moment from now. I mean the zoning formula.
“Hopefully, by next week, the NEC meeting will hold. It is a continuation of Monday’s meeting. And just so you know, so you won’t be asking me the same thing tomorrow, we are going to be meeting every day until the convention so that we can put things together.
“Basically, today we looked at the convention sub-committee and we collected some of the reports from the committee hoping that tomorrow we will decide on the next step to take.”
On whether the CECPC National Secretary, John Akpanudoedehe, is part of the new leadership of the APC, Bello replied, “ask him”.
While confusion reigned in some quarters, The PUNCH observed jubilation amongst certain groups.
Adebayo Adelabu, one of the aspirants for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket in Oyo State, has alleged irregularities in the party’s governorship primary election held on Thursday.
Adelabu, who expressed dissatisfaction over the conduct of the exercise, stated that the primary was characterized by misconduct ranging from disenfranchisement of his supporters in some wards and the commencement of election process earlier than scheduled.
Speaking after the conclusion of the primary election at IMG School, Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government Area, the immediate past Minister of Power alleged that the process was neither free, fair nor credible.
He said: “Before our people started getting to their various wards, they have already conducted the election and they wrote the figures they want as results.
“In some wards, our people were prevented from voting. They were intimidated. They were chased away violently. And in some wards, voting did not take place at all.
“All this kind of misconduct is not good at this stage of our democracy in Nigeria, and something has to be done about it.”
Adelabu, therefore, vowed to come up with serious petitions against all the irregularities not just in Ibadan, but across all the five geopolitical zones in Oyo State.
“Also, conduct of many party executives is uncalled for, a lot of people bought forms and they were cleared. And they decided to conduct affirmation of a particular candidate in some wards.
“There was nothing like consensus arrangement. It was just a figment of their weird imagination. The instruction we got from Abuja was that we should all carry out free, fair, and transparent direct primary election where every aspirant will be given a level playing ground and the election will be conducted peacefully.
“Where did they get the idea of consensus candidates? And this is what happened in a lot of the wards. And it didn’t go down well with us. “We don’t want that. We are going to assess the gravity of this gross misconduct and the potential impact on the overall result of this election.
“I will put a petition forward to the appropriate authorities so that it can be deeply investigated and there must be consequences to this. The people who perpetrated this misconduct must be identified and punished. And the aspirants involved also need to be suspended because this is not good for us.
“Democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people where nobody should be disenfranchised. Once you are a party member, you should have that freedom, that authority to pick an aspirant of your choice as the flag bearer of the party.
“This is Ibadan, this is Oyo State and this the centre of politics in the southwest. And we should be able to lay good examples and the process should produce a candidate that won transparently, freely and fairly,” he said.
Meanwhile, at Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government, Adelabu, polled 430 to defeat his closest rival, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, who had 3 votes.
Al Nassr captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, has finally won the Saudi Pro League title.
They were confirmed champions on Thursday, thanks to a 4-2 drubbing of relegation battlers, Damac.
The title race had gone down to the final day after Al-Nassr dramatically dropped points against Al-Hilal the previous week.
Jorge Jesus’ side knew there could be no mistakes against a Damac side fighting for survival at the other end of the table.
Ronaldo was on the scoresheet, as his brace helped Al Nassr secure the title ahead of rivals Al Hilal.
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has announced his withdrawal from the All Progressives Congress governorship primary election in the state.
Fubara made this known in a statement personally signed on Wednesday, saying he would support whoever emerges as the party’s candidate, The Nations reported.
The governor said his decision followed extensive consultations with his family, friends, and political associates.
“After deep reflection and extensive consultations with my family, friends, and associates, I have taken the difficult but necessary decision to withdraw from the APC governorship primaries. I do so with a full heart and with a firm commitment to support whoever emerges as the candidate of our great party,” Fubara said.
Fubara said although the decision was difficult, he remained committed to supporting whoever would emerge as the APC governorship candidate.
According to him, leadership demands sacrifice and personal ambition must sometimes give way to the collective interest of the people.
Meanwhile, the embattled governor expressed appreciation to his supporters for their loyalty, prayers and sacrifices throughout the political process, acknowledging that many would feel disappointed by his withdrawal.
He said his silence in recent weeks was “deliberate and strategic,” adding that it was guided by the higher interest of the state.
Tone Cole, APC chieftain and 2027 governorship aspirant in Rivers State, also announced his withdrawal from the race, saying his decision was, among other reasons, in the interest of the party’s unity.
