Many influential members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are unhappy with the president’s schemes to extend the tenure of national officials in an attempt to tighten its control on the party’s national secretariat.
In spite of growing party discord, the presidency is committed to making sure that a new ticket for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is secured smoothly as the general elections of 2027 get near.
The APC National Working Committee (NWC), headed by Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, is preparing to prolong the term of its members past the 2019 general election, according to information obtained by Saturday Tribune.
Additionally, state chapter leaders may receive similar extensions, avoiding the need to elect new national and state offices, which would result in legal challenges and further polarization within the party at the state level.
Talks at the national caucus conference that preceded the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in February in Abuja reportedly included the notion of securing tenure extensions for Ganduje and state leaders.
Following that meeting, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, announced that the party had approved the extension plans by reading a vote of confidence in Ganduje’s NWC.
Senators Abdullahi Adamu and Iyiola Omisore were removed during a NEC meeting in August 2023, and Ganduje and Senator Ajibola Basiru were elected national chairman and secretary, respectively. In March 2022, Adamu and Omisore were chosen at the APC National Convention in Abuja.
Article 17(1) of the APC Constitution (2022 as modified) states that party officers are meant to hold office for four years, with the option to be re-elected or reappointed for a further term.
“Unless otherwise provided in this Constitution, all officers of the Party elected or appointed into the Party’s organs shall serve in such organs for a period of four (4) years and shall be eligible for re-election or reappointment for another period of four (4) years only,” the article states.
The proposed tenure extension has, however, angered first-term governors, many of whom are angry about the imposition of their predecessors’ supporters at the state and federal levels.
Despite these governors’ desire to pick their own loyalists, the presidency’s meddling in the appointments process has caused conflict.
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The question of automatic tickets for federal MPs who switched to the APC is another source of dispute.
The Tribune claims that a number of senators and members of the House of Representatives had contracts from the president for automatic tickets before to making their defection public.
According to reports, senators who signed such agreements include Ned Nwoko (Delta North) and Ezenwa Onyewuchi (Imo East), who defected from the Labour Party. The arrangement also benefits Salman Idris (Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency), who left the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, daughter of PDP leader James Ibori, who serves in the House of Representatives.
Other party members interested in similar positions have privately complained about the impending presidential imposition of candidates, expressing concern that the procedure will impede internal party democracy, even as these parliamentarians enjoy the advantages of their new affiliations.
