Buhari takes charge, pushes back govs
President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, waded into the leadership crisis rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), backing Governor Mai Mala Buni as chairman of the Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) and sanctioning the March 26, 2022 national convention.
Buhari made this known in a letter addressed to the Chairman, Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) and Kebbi State Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu.
In the correspondence, which copied Acting CECPC Chairman, Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Director General of the Department of State Services and Inspector General of Police, Buhari based his intervention on the need to prevent the party’s implosion and non recognition of its activities, elections and probable invalidation of all its other actions by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The President stressed the “urgent need for the party to, as much as possible, avoid all controversies, litigations and all other necessary distractions and quickly get its acts together.”
He specifically directed all members of the Governors’ Forum and their followers to “desist from any behaviour or utterance that will likely lead to disunity in the ranks of the party, and ultimately jeopardise the transition to the convention.”
He said: “The issue of the leadership of CECPC should immediately return to status quo ante and that the Mai Mala Buni-led CECPC should be allowed to proceed with all necessary preparations to hold the convention as planned, unfailingly, on March 26, 2022.”
