The national secretary of All Progressives Congress, APC, Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Senator John James Akpanudoedehe Phd has debunked media report, that the chairman of the committee and Governor of Yobe State, HE Mai Mala Buni has been relieved of his committee duty, by President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, shortly, before he left for the United Kingdom, for medical check up.
In a press statement Akpanudoehede submitted that “Our attention has been drawn to sponsored media reports on an imaginary leadership change in the All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).
“The media report is fake news and should be disregarded. The APC is a progressive political party guided by rules. Leadership changes are not announced by ‘sources’ through name dropping in the media.
“We urge our teeming supporters, members and indeed the general public to remain calm and support the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led APC CECPC to conduct a rancour-free and credible National Convention deserving of our great party.”
A front line media outfit had published that the President Buhari relieved HE Mala Buni of his duty to contain the crisis plaguing the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and in his stead, appointed his Niger State counterpart, Abubakar Sani Bello.
Unconfirmed reports had it that a faction of the APC governors was alleged to have complained bitterly to the president that Buni was not inclined to holding the convention as rescheduled, because there were no preparations on the ground to indicate so.
Apparently miffed by what he was told, the president was alleged to have immediately directed that Buni be removed and replaced, the report offered.
Buni who is currently in Dubai for medical reasons and was has not physically reacted to the reports. However, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and another top Villa player, were believed to have intervened on behalf of Buni, when they got wind of the development, and advised the president to exercise caution against such action.
They were said to have reminded Buhari it was only the NEC of the Party that could convene and remove Buni, and it will be after he must have been given seven days notice of removal. They, however, contended that anything outside the laid down processes, could be challenged in court, with the potential of disrupting the rescheduled March 26 Convention date.
The adjudged fake report offered that it was not certain, however, whether the intervention changed the President’s mind. But some insiders, who spoke to the media organization on the development on Monday morning, expressed displeasure that some governors went to ambush the president just before he left the country without their knowledge and created a totally false narrative that Buni did not want to hold the convention.
“They are creating unnecessary crisis in the party, because of their selfish interests. How can they claim there are no preparations to hold the convention, when various convention sub-committees have been announced? The zonal committee is announcing the zoning formula on Monday.
“Committees will be inaugurated in a few days. These people are not sincere. Some governors have been scheming to take over the functions of CECPC to further their own interests.
The immediate way out of this is; if Buni voluntarily resigns, which he had two weeks ago threatened to during the APC governors meeting in Abuja,” they claimed.
These, nonetheless, the president, on Sunday, assured party members before departing the country for his two-week medical trip, that he would do everything to ensure the convention holds as scheduled on March 26.
He also took time to clear the air of misgivings about the structure of his government, when he said, constitutionally, his deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, was always in charge, whenever he was away.
This is as the APC zoning committee, headed by the Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq, is expected to announce the zoning formula for the party’ National Working Committee (NWC) on Monday ahead of the national convention.
Also, a former governor of Nasarawa State and frontline aspirant for the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairmanship, Senator Tanko Al-Makura, has denied working against the president’s choice of consensus candidate, describing a report to that effect as mischievous and unkind.