•
Buhari, Tinubu in last minute consultations
There are indications that the current National Chairman of the
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Alhaji Bisi Akande, and the former Minister
of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai, may be picked
to serve as the interim chairman and national secretary respectively of the
proposed All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ahead of
Wednesday's meeting of the joint merger committees of the merging opposition
parties, party leaders and the APC governors in Abuja, THISDAY gathered that
both the ACN National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, and Congress of Progressive
Change (CPC) leader, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, held last minute
consultations on Monday in Kaduna.
The
opposition coalition had proposed an interim national executive with the chairman
to be nominated by the ACN while CPC and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) are
to fill the posts of national secretary and deputy national chairmanship slots
respectively.
Forming
of the interim party structure is a key requirement for the registration of a
new party with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
THISDAY
learnt that the three parties are making last minute efforts to fine-tune their
positions on the composition of the party structure as well as putting together
the necessary documentation so that the group can file its application at INEC.
It was
learnt that one of the major challenges facing the merging parties is the
inability by INEC to be clear on what the law expects of them with regards to
the registration of the merger.
One of
the members of the merger committee told THISDAY that the coalition was
frustrated when in reply to a letter seeking clarity on the registration
requirements, INEC wrote back urging the committees to go and seek proper
interpretation of the Electoral Act.
“You
know party merger has never been carried out in Nigeria's political system
before. INEC is not helping matters, we approached it to assist in providing
clear guidelines on the requirements for the registration of APC, but the
commission instead asked us to go and interpret the law on our own,” the
committee member said.
A source
told THISDAY Tuesday that while ACN may choose to retain Akande as chairman of
the new party, CPC is considering a choice between el-Rufai and a Kano-born
politician, Hamid Ali, for national secretary.
Ali is
said to be in hot contention for the interim job based on his grassroots
popularity in Kano State, which incidentally, has a high voter population.
However,
the source said el-Rufai may have an upper hand, having won the hearts of the
leadership of CPC as a very sound and articulate person.
The
source said CPC has decided to allow Buhari and other Board of Trustees (BoT)
members to make the final choice for the APC interim leadership structure.
Meanwhile,
THISDAY gathered that both leaders of CPC and ACN, Buhari and Tinubu, met on
Monday at the private residence of the former military head of state in Kaduna
to tie-up outstanding issues on the merger, including the sharing of the
interim national offices of the party.
A party
source told THISDAY that the meeting was also meant to allay fears of any kind,
especially against the background of the sudden emergence of campaign posters
canvassing support for a Buhari presidential ticket on APC platform.
The
source said the meeting between Buhari and Tinubu lasted till about 9 pm,
following which the former Lagos State governor left for Lagos.
Source: Thisday
No comments:
Post a Comment