THE INSIDER: Disquiet in APC as Buni’s ‘sit-tight’ ambition overshadows convention

There is growing uncertainty in the ranks of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the party’s convention scheduled for February 26, insiders have told TheCable.

At the centre of the uneasiness is Mai Mala Buni, chairman of Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), whose rumored plan is not to relinquish control of the party anytime soon.

Buni, Yobe governor and a former national secretary of the party, took over the helm of affairs of the APC after the national working committee (NWC) led by Adams Oshiomhole, a former national chairman, was dissolved in June 2020.

APC’s national executive committee (NEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Buni’s committee to plan a convention as “soon as possible” — but more than one year after Oshiomhole was sent packing, the party still does not have a substantive NWC.

TheCable understands that Buni prefers the party’s chairmanship to being governor.

“If Buni is very sure he would be unanimously picked as the next national chairman of the party at the February 26 convention, he would resign as governor immediately,” a former national officer told TheCable.

A governor told TheCable that the CECPC chairman is only pursuing the composition of a zoning committee — which is just one of the several panels that need to be in place before the convention is held.

“If he announces only the zoning committee, which he is likely to do this week, it will only cause more confusion as all committees are supposed to be named and pre-convention work is supposed to start immediately,” the governor told TheCable.

“Buni is definitely up to something — he wants to inaugurate the state executives this week and we are hearing he wants them to use a voice vote to say he should continue in office… this will only create more friction and confusion.”

‘BUNI FIGHTS DIRTY WITH APC GOVERNORS CALLING FOR CONVENTION’

Atiku Bagudu, chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) and Jigawa governor, and Simon Lalong, governor of Plateau, have been in the forefront in calling for the party to have its convention soon.

In November, the Kebbi governor announced that Buhari approved the month of February for the convention.

The convention was later slated for February 26 after a number of meetings were convened by Bagudu with APC governors and party stalwarts.

This is said to have angered Buni who chose to fight the two governors by entertaining petitions against the congresses in Jigawa and Plateau states.

The congresses were conducted in October.

In the petitions, some aggrieved APC members in Jigawa and Plateau accused the governors of not “complying with rules of the party” in selecting party officials and “exclusion of party stakeholders” during the exercise.

“Buni is going after all those governors who want him to the leave the affairs of the party and focus on his state,” a source said.

The CECPC chairman has been criticised for abandoning his state and focusing on party politics, but he responded saying that he spends three days in a month in Yobe.

Under him, the party has suffered high profile defections.

On Sunday, Salihu Lukman, a former director-general of the PGF, said any APC leader seen to be working against the convention should be punished.