APC governors meet Buhari, say no plan to shift convention date

Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) say the national convention scheduled for March 26 in Abuja will hold.

Atiku Bagudu, governor of Kebbi state and chairman of the progressive governors’ forum, said this on Tuesday after the governors met with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

There had been speculations that some APC members were pushing for the postponement of the national convention so that the election of the national executives and the primaries to select candidates for the 2023 polls can be done simultaneously.

Speaking with state house correspondents, Bagudu said the governors met with the president to congratulate him for assenting to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2022, adding that there were no plans to postpone the convention.

“Last week, we were in this hall — about 20 APC governors — and this question came up and we clearly said we came to discuss the national convention, which is slated for March 26, and we’re working hard to ensure that on March 26, we have our convention and elect our national officers and that remains the case,” he said.

On reports in some quarters that some governors are not satisfied with some provisions in the electoral act, Bagudu said the national assembly will provide the opportunity for improvement if necessary.

“Legislation, everywhere in the world, is based on continuous improvement. Constitutions that are 200 years old are subject to reviews sometimes and those reviews are not cut and dry. Even people who truly believe in the need for a legislation may have worries about the implications of it,” he said.

“Like I said, we’re never against the principle of amending laws. They are never against the national assembly, but even among the national assembly, there’s debate.

“To imagine that there is some legislation that is punitive to the governors or to the national assembly, I think that will be tantamount to negation of the oath of office.”