Orji Uzor Kalu, former Governor of Abia State and Senate Chief Whip, has called for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) national convention in February 2022 to be rescheduled.
If the APC’s National Chairman of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Governor Mai Mala Buni, goes ahead with the convention in February, he allayed fears of a collapse and irreversible damage to the party.
Kalu identified three challenges that must be addressed urgently before the convention in a letter he wrote on Thursday in Abuja to President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC’s national leadership: “National Working Committee (NWC) election; Party crisis at state levels; and presidential zoning in 2023.”
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In response, he proposed holding the APC presidential primary and the election of the National Working Committee (NWC) at the same time as the presidential primary election in 2023.
In a letter titled “Urgent appeal for postponement of APC National Convention,” Kalu warned that holding the convention in February without resolving pockets of disagreements arising from the party’s Congresses could lead to the party’s implosion.
“I write to you, the content of this letter regarding our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), with a sense of commitment and unflinching loyalty to our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC),” the letter begins.
He praised Mai Mala Buni’s accomplishments in leading the party up to this point, but warned that a crisis in some State chapters of the party remained a threat if it was not addressed immediately.
“It is important to note, however, that some states are engulfed in a crisis involving multiple factions.
“These factions are not new to our politics, particularly since democracy was restored in 1999.
“However, the consequences of these factions during and after elections must be taken into account.”
Kalu recalled how the opposition party benefited in the Rivers and Zamfara governorship elections in 2019, despite the fact that the party was unable to field senatorial candidates in Cross River State, giving the Peoples Democratic Party a field day.
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He went on to say that the party cannot claim to have made a decision on presidential zoning yet, a situation he believes could lead to the party’s implosion, and that the issue must be resolved before the national convention in order to save the party.
