APC Rebirth alleges plot to extend convention date beyond February

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

An All Progressive Congress group, APC Rebirth, has alleged that in furtherance of the agenda to continue the extension of its six months mandate which is now running to the 19th month, the Buni-led Caretaker Committee has come up with another plot to deceive party members and buy time in order to further propagate its selfish agenda.

The group claimed that it has been reliably informed that the Caretaker Committee was behind various news reports in the media that the convention has been fixed for February 25th 2022.

A statement issued yesterday in Abuja by the Coordinator of the group, Aliyu Audu, said “The CECPC, having realized that no less than six states will be going to the polls for various bye-elections on the 26th of February, 2022, decided to plant a February 25th date in the media, knowing fully well that the convention cannot be taking place at a time bye-elections, in which the party would be participating, will also be taking place across different states in the country.

“The real plot is to use the planted February 25th date to buy more time, pretending it has no knowledge of the forthcoming bye-election; by which time it will be left with no option but to postpone the much awaited February convention to another date.

“The CECPC will do this either by arranging a group of people to obtain a kangaroo court injunction hiding under the guise of exclusion by virtue of the bye-elections or simply ride on the excuse of limited time if any other date in February is to be chosen.

“In any case, the purported February 25th date, just like many other decisions that have been taken by the Caretaker Committee, was not a collective decision by members of the Committee. This is the reason it opted to plant the date in the media rather than  coming out with an official position. We wonder why other members of the CECPC have continued to tolerate the unilateral decision making and dictatorial excesses of the Chairman of the committee.”

APC  Rebirth said it is bringing this new plot of the CECPC to public attention, just as it have done in many other instances, in order to re awaken the consciousness of party members to the reality of Buni leadership of APC and to call on all those concerned to prevail on him not to toy with the February date for the national convention.

It said if the CECPC is serious about holding the national convention, February 19 is a good date and the time to start preparing for it is now, adding that rather than planting dates and stories in the media, the CECPC should come out with a clear position and timetable for the much awaited national convention.

“While we recommend February 19th 2022 as a feasible date for the convention that will give the APC a new set of elected National Working Committee members, we want to reiterate that any attempt by the Buni-led Caretaker Committee to move the convention any further under any guise will be resisted by all means possible.

“The APC Rebirth also use this opportunity to call for the rejigging of the membership of the Caretaker Committee. Aside from the obvious travesty of being in contravention of section 183 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria which forbids sitting governors from the membership of the committee, the continuous  stay of Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State especially is a disrespect to our laws and morals”, the statement said.