APC NEC meeting: Govs’ bid to get automatic 2019 ticket for Buhari fails

* President to appoint more ministers, heads of agencies

A move by some governors on the platform of the All Progressives
Congress to use the platform of the National Executive Council of
the party to endorse President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term
failed on Tuesday.

The APC NEC is the second highest decision-making body of the
party after the national convention.

Signs of what was in the offing became apparent early in the day
as some governors known to be close allies of the President
extended a campaign they began at an event organised by the Buhari
Support Organisation in Abuja on Saturday.

In separate interviews with reporters at the APC National
Secretariat, the venue of Tuesday’s NEC meeting, the Chairman of
the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Owelle Rochas Okorocha; his
Plateau and Kebbi counterparts, Simon Lalong and Atiku Bagudu,
respectively said only Buhari had what it would take to fly the
party’s flag in 2019.

The governors spoke before the commencement of the NEC meeting.
Lalong said all the governors had agreed to work towards the
President’s re-election in 2019.

He said, “Concerning the issue of sole ticket for Mr. President,
I want to say that if Mr. President is performing, well-respected
and carrying everybody along, all of us have resolved that we will
work for him.”

He then asked a rhetorical question, “Do we have any other
person that will challenge the President again? Whatever you call
it, as far as we are concerned, we have one President and that is
the ticket we will fly.

“I want to assure you that you won’t see a wrangling party after
the meeting. From now onwards, it will be focused governance from
Mr. President and all the governors from the states. We have all
resolved to support Mr. President.”

His Kebbi State counterpart, Atiku Bagudu, who was also
responding to a question on whether the governors had resolved to
give the President an automatic ticket, said, “The performance of
the President in the last two and half years suggests that if he
wants to contest, l will certainly support him and l know that our
party members feel the same about him.”

However, the governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura,
expressed a slightly different opinion.

While responding to a similar question, he said, “For anybody to
preempt the consensus opinion of the people is to say the least not
fair to the vision of our party.

“I can tell you if there is anything that is clandestine, the
President will not honour it. So, let’s wait and see as we embark
on these meetings.

“I believe the consensus and the preponderance of opinion of all
party members will be what is good for this country and we have
already known the will of this country, the future of this country
as we are now as a country is associated with one person, who is
impeccable, who has the greatest amount of integrity that you can
find in any human being around; so, your guess is as good as
mine.”

Also speaking on the issue, Okorocha, who is also Imo State
governor, said only a decision by President Buhari to contest the
2019 election could make him drop his personal presidential
ambition.

He said, “If Mr. President wants to run for election, he will
follow all the processes and if he is the person, we will all
support him. In APC, there is no imposition of candidate.

“If Buhari is running, I will allow that man to continue but if
he is not running, I won’t sacrifice my Presidential ambition. Mr.
President is showing the right leadership and taking the very right
steps and there is reconciliation going on even with nobody talking
about it. There is the spirit of reconciliation and people
understand their role.

“Our role is to make this party great and we are all trying to
do that; but importantly, the governors have remained the pivot
upon which this wheel of change has rotated so far. We have kept
this party working and after this meeting, our congresses and
convention will commence in the early part of next year and all
party organs will be strengthened. We are in good mood and high
spirits.”

During the meeting proper, one of the party members moved a
motion asking that a vote of confidence be passed in the President
and that he should be endorsed as the party’s candidate for the
forthcoming presidential election.

This however failed to sail through. The party members felt that
considering the fact that aggrieved members had yet to be pacified,
doing so would escalate tension in the party and adversely affect
its chances.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara,
confirmed this while speaking to newsmen after the NEC meeting.

He explained that the Tuesday’s NEC meeting was not about the
2019 elections but that there was a motion asking that first, a
vote of confidence be passed in the President and then he should be
endorsed as the party’s candidate for the 2019 election.

Dogara said, “Today’s meeting was not about 2019 elections. When
we talk about 2019 in the context of the agenda you saw, we are
talking about membership registration, the drive for membership and
others. We are not talking about elections.

“Even though there was a motion on the floor that called for a
vote of confidence in the President, some of us felt it was not
necessary because there is nowhere that his confidence is
shaking.

“But the motion was taken and passed. But there was a second leg
to that motion which calls for the adoption of the candidature of
the President, but it was deferred for now and no decision was
taken because that is not the major reason why we are here.”

He further explained that the party had yet to agree on a date
for its inaugural bi-annual national convention because details
were still being worked out.

The Speaker noted that some of the grievances expressed by party
members were normal in every family.

He stressed that there was no family without its internal
squabbles; and noted the challenges were being handled and would
soon be resolved.

Similarly, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam
Bolaji Abdullahi, explained that a member of the party’s NEC made a
move for a confidence vote in the President after a briefing by the
Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, about the activities of
his ministry.

Abdullahi said, “One of the NEC members said we should move a
motion passing a vote of confidence in Mr. President. There was no
formal motion moved on the issue of second term for Mr.
President.

“Somebody in the crowd shouted that we should move a motion and
we don’t even know that member. But the motion that was formally
moved was that NEC should pass a vote of confidence in Mr.
President and that was after the brief given by the Minister of
Agriculture, especially when he said that by 2018, Nigeria would
have no need to import a single grain of rice. That is the context
and I need you to understand that very well.”

He added, “The only discussion or conversation on 2019 was the
activity of the party in 2018, especially the issue of convention.
It was agreed that since we have all these activities lined up,
including the mini-convention, congresses and elective convention,
a small team be set up to put dates to these party activities up to
2018.

“There was no discussion about election of 2019 or who will be
the party flag bearer. The committee will decide when all these
activities will take place.”

Abdullahi also said a vote of confidence was passed in the Chief
John Odigie-Oyegun National Working Committee of the party.

* President to appoint more ministers, heads of agencies

A move by some governors on the platform of the All Progressives
Congress to use the platform of the National Executive Council of
the party to endorse President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term
failed on Tuesday.

The APC NEC is the second highest decision-making body of the
party after the national convention.

Signs of what was in the offing became apparent early in the day
as some governors known to be close allies of the President
extended a campaign they began at an event organised by the Buhari
Support Organisation in Abuja on Saturday.

In separate interviews with reporters at the APC National
Secretariat, the venue of Tuesday’s NEC meeting, the Chairman of
the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Owelle Rochas Okorocha; his
Plateau and Kebbi counterparts, Simon Lalong and Atiku Bagudu,
respectively said only Buhari had what it would take to fly the
party’s flag in 2019.

The governors spoke before the commencement of the NEC meeting.
Lalong said all the governors had agreed to work towards the
President’s re-election in 2019.

He said, “Concerning the issue of sole ticket for Mr. President,
I want to say that if Mr. President is performing, well-respected
and carrying everybody along, all of us have resolved that we will
work for him.”

He then asked a rhetorical question, “Do we have any other
person that will challenge the President again? Whatever you call
it, as far as we are concerned, we have one President and that is
the ticket we will fly.

“I want to assure you that you won’t see a wrangling party after
the meeting. From now onwards, it will be focused governance from
Mr. President and all the governors from the states. We have all
resolved to support Mr. President.”

His Kebbi State counterpart, Atiku Bagudu, who was also
responding to a question on whether the governors had resolved to
give the President an automatic ticket, said, “The performance of
the President in the last two and half years suggests that if he
wants to contest, l will certainly support him and l know that our
party members feel the same about him.”

However, the governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura,
expressed a slightly different opinion.

While responding to a similar question, he said, “For anybody to
preempt the consensus opinion of the people is to say the least not
fair to the vision of our party.

“I can tell you if there is anything that is clandestine, the
President will not honour it. So, let’s wait and see as we embark
on these meetings.

“I believe the consensus and the preponderance of opinion of all
party members will be what is good for this country and we have
already known the will of this country, the future of this country
as we are now as a country is associated with one person, who is
impeccable, who has the greatest amount of integrity that you can
find in any human being around; so, your guess is as good as
mine.”

Also speaking on the issue, Okorocha, who is also Imo State
governor, said only a decision by President Buhari to contest the
2019 election could make him drop his personal presidential
ambition.

He said, “If Mr. President wants to run for election, he will
follow all the processes and if he is the person, we will all
support him. In APC, there is no imposition of candidate.

“If Buhari is running, I will allow that man to continue but if
he is not running, I won’t sacrifice my Presidential ambition. Mr.
President is showing the right leadership and taking the very right
steps and there is reconciliation going on even with nobody talking
about it. There is the spirit of reconciliation and people
understand their role.

“Our role is to make this party great and we are all trying to
do that; but importantly, the governors have remained the pivot
upon which this wheel of change has rotated so far. We have kept
this party working and after this meeting, our congresses and
convention will commence in the early part of next year and all
party organs will be strengthened. We are in good mood and high
spirits.”

During the meeting proper, one of the party members moved a
motion asking that a vote of confidence be passed in the President
and that he should be endorsed as the party’s candidate for the
forthcoming presidential election.

This however failed to sail through. The party members felt that
considering the fact that aggrieved members had yet to be pacified,
doing so would escalate tension in the party and adversely affect
its chances.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara,
confirmed this while speaking to newsmen after the NEC meeting.

He explained that the Tuesday’s NEC meeting was not about the
2019 elections but that there was a motion asking that first, a
vote of confidence be passed in the President and then he should be
endorsed as the party’s candidate for the 2019 election.

Dogara said, “Today’s meeting was not about 2019 elections. When
we talk about 2019 in the context of the agenda you saw, we are
talking about membership registration, the drive for membership and
others. We are not talking about elections.

“Even though there was a motion on the floor that called for a
vote of confidence in the President, some of us felt it was not
necessary because there is nowhere that his confidence is
shaking.

“But the motion was taken and passed. But there was a second leg
to that motion which calls for the adoption of the candidature of
the President, but it was deferred for now and no decision was
taken because that is not the major reason why we are here.”

He further explained that the party had yet to agree on a date
for its inaugural bi-annual national convention because details
were still being worked out.

The Speaker noted that some of the grievances expressed by party
members were normal in every family.

He stressed that there was no family without its internal
squabbles; and noted the challenges were being handled and would
soon be resolved.

Similarly, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam
Bolaji Abdullahi, explained that a member of the party’s NEC made a
move for a confidence vote in the President after a briefing by the
Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, about the activities of
his ministry.

Abdullahi said, “One of the NEC members said we should move a
motion passing a vote of confidence in Mr. President. There was no
formal motion moved on the issue of second term for Mr.
President.

“Somebody in the crowd shouted that we should move a motion and
we don’t even know that member. But the motion that was formally
moved was that NEC should pass a vote of confidence in Mr.
President and that was after the brief given by the Minister of
Agriculture, especially when he said that by 2018, Nigeria would
have no need to import a single grain of rice. That is the context
and I need you to understand that very well.”

He added, “The only discussion or conversation on 2019 was the
activity of the party in 2018, especially the issue of convention.
It was agreed that since we have all these activities lined up,
including the mini-convention, congresses and elective convention,
a small team be set up to put dates to these party activities up to
2018.

“There was no discussion about election of 2019 or who will be
the party flag bearer. The committee will decide when all these
activities will take place.”

Abdullahi also said a vote of confidence was passed in the Chief
John Odigie-Oyegun National Working Committee of the party.