From Romanus Ugwu and Fred Itua, Abuja
Barring any change, the acting national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) and Governor of Yobe State, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni, would resign his appointment following a resolution by majority of members of the committee for him to quit.
Also expected to resign is the acting secretary, John Akpanudoedehe.
This is coming 48 hours after the acting Deputy National chairman and Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, took over the secretariat of the APC along with some members of the CECPC.
Competent sources told Daily Sun that members of the CECPC were fully in support of Governor Bello running the APC till March 26 when the national convention would hold. It was gathered that the CECPC members have also approved that the acting Women Leader, Stella Okotete, takes over from Udoedehe as acting secretary pending the national convention.
This is as indication emerged that the Bello-led committee has sealed the possibility of Buni and Udoedehe returning to assume their positions by excluding them from the recently released Central Planning Committee for the March 26 national convention list.
To confirm slamming the doors on the duo, their names were conspicuously missing in the list of convention sub-committees, especially the Central Planning Committee.
The 11-member committee comprised all the Caretaker Committee members consisting of Governor Bello, Sen Ken Nnamani, Sen. Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf, Akinyemi Olaide Jagaba, Sen. Abba Ali, Prof. Tahir Mamman, Ms. Okotete, Dr. James Lalu, David Lyon, and Ismaeel Ahmed, without Governor Buni and the secretary, Akpanudoedehe.
The party also formally released the zoning formula for its proposed March 26 national convention, confirming that the North Central geopolitical zone would produce the national chairman of the party.
Governor Bello also assured that the March 26 date remains sacrosanct.
Speaking while inaugurating the party’s convention sub-committees, Governor Bello pleaded with those affected by the trimmed committee list to understand the time constraints the convention is facing.
“I am sure other opportunities will come in future. I want to remind you that you have to work hard to ensure that the national convention will hold on March 26, 2022. That day is sacrosanct insha Allah.”
Earlier, in a statement signed by the party’s Director Publicity, Salisu Na’inna Dambatta, the party also ratified the South West to produce the National Secretary while the National Publicity Secretary is zoned to the South-south.
According to the list, the position of Deputy National Chairman (South) and National Treasurer have been zoned to the South East while the National Auditor and Deputy National Chairman (North) were zoned to the North East.
Apart from producing the national chairmanship, the North-central will also produce Deputy National Secretary, Deputy National Legal Adviser, Deputy National Publicity Secretary and Zonal Secretary among other positions.
Some of the other positions for the national leadership zoned to the South-south include National Women Leader, Deputy National Treasurer, Deputy National Welfare Secretary among others.
The South West apart from the position of National Secretary will produce National Youth Leader, National Physically Challenged Leader and Deputy National Auditor among other zonal positions.
Other positions zoned to the South East include, National Treasurer, National Welfare Secretary, Deputy National Organising Secretary and National Ex – Officio Member among other zonal positions like Zonal Secretary, Zonal Youth Leader, Zonal Organising Secretary, Zonal Women Leader and Zonal Special Leader (Persons with Disabilities – PWD).
However, security agents have re-occupied the national secretariat of the party, grounding movement along the Blantyre Street.
The security agents had arrived the Buhari House in the early hours with instruction of who to allow into the secretariat complex.
Curiously, the Secretary Caretaker Committee, Senator Akpanudoedehe, was nowhere near the secretariat despite denying his resignation on Tuesday.
Reacting to the leadership shenanigans rocking the party, a member of Governor Buni’s kitchen cabinet lambasted some members of the Progressive Governors Forum for stabbing the Yobe State governor on his hospital bed.
Our source claimed that some of the governors had gone to feed President Muhammadu Buhari with all manners of concocted lies against Governor Buni while he was still on his hospital bed outside the country.
“They waited for him to leave the country for surgery before going to President Buhari to paint him black. Since he was not around to defend the baseless allegations against him, they claimed that Buhari has endorsed him removal. But they got it all wrong because it has no constitutional backing.”
Dismissing their actions and activities carried out so far by the Governor Bello-led CECPC without the endorsement of the secretary as a nullity, the source claimed that the current leadership lacked the recognition of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).