Whatever denial the National Secretary APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, is putting up, it is a done deal that his principal, Governor Mai Mala Buni, and the full gamut of the CECPC has been sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC), worsening the confusion in the troubled ruling party.
Buni himself is said to have gone abroad for medical reasons, but Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, is the new sole administrator. A video on social media showed him arriving to praises of staff and other party hangers-on.
Recall that President Buhari on Sunday dismissed assertions that the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) lacks the capacity to conduct its national convention on March 26, saying the party will surprise its critics.
”Well, they (critics) should wait and see. How did we come as a party to take power from the ruling party who had been there before us for so many years? So, we have the capacity, everything will be alright,” he told journalists on Sunday.
At the time of this report, the Governor of the troubled Niger State has been holding meetings in-doors with party officials.
An inkling to Sani Bello’s take-over was first dropped on Sunday by a former party spokesman, Mr. Yekini Nabena.
The former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling party called on Sani Bello to stop his plan to call for a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting without the authorisation of Buni.
Nabena said the plot by the Niger State governor to destabilise the APC has been on for a while because of his Vice Presidential ambition in 2023.
In a statement, he said Sani Bello is just an ordinary member of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) and not the Chairman or Secretary.
“I am using this medium to call on our leaders across the states to caution Governor Sani Bello of Niger state. The presidency should also call him to order to immediately drop the plan to convey a NEC meeting without the knowledge of Governor Mai Mala Buni and the Secretary of the CECPC.
“The likes of Governor Bello are the political vultures working against our party and to cause anarchy in the ruling APC.
“Governor Sani Bello is neither the Chairman nor Secretary of the National Caretaker Committee. So did he get the power to convey such meeting?
“Governor Bello should not destroy the ruling APC because of his personal political ambition of becoming Vice President or whatever in 2023.”
On Monday morning, after the Sunday coup that sacked Buni, Akpanudoedehe had issued a largely ignored statement.
He said: “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 conduct a rancour-free and credible National Convention deserving of our great party.”
