Fair hearing for aggrieved APC members in doubt, as party confirms February 26 National Convention date

Amid confusion over the possibility of the party beating the timeline laid out by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for political platforms to conclude intra-party arrangements ahead of the 2023 National Elections, the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has now confirmed February 26 date for its National Convention.

The date was originally agreed upon by state governors elected under the platform of the party, last week.

It would be recalled that an appeal by the party’s reconciliation committee for  week’s extension to conclude its work sparked doubts over whether the ruling party would be able to beat the February 2022 time line of INEC.

Speculations were further heightened by the failure of the CECPC to write INEC on the actual date for its contentious National Convention.

The Reconciliation Committee had promised fair hearing for all aggrieved party members whose petitions were being looked into, as it sought for more time to conclude on the meetings.

However, a letter to INEC, Thursday, CECPC of the party confirmed the February 26 date, even as the party has yet to confirm its readiness to address the fears and complaints raised by its reconciliation committee.

The confirmation of the February date now fulfills the statutory 21-day notice to the electoral body for the political exercise.

The letter was delivered Thursday morning at the headquarters of the electoral body.

The letter dated 2nd February, 2022, signed by the Chairman of CECPC, Gov Mai Mala Buni and Secretary, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, reads in part: “Follow up to our letter referenced APC/NHDQ/INEC/19/021/40 dated 11 July 2021 on the NOTICE FOR THE CONDUCT OF NATIONAL CONVENTION.

“This is to inform the Commission that our great Party has scheduled to hold its National Convention on Saturday, 26% February 2022.

“This serves as a formal notification under the provisions of Section 85 of the Electoral Act (2010) as amended.

“Kindly arrange for your officials to monitor the exercise accordingly.”

It would be recalled that national reconciliation committee set up to tackle the issues which have trailed the APC in numerous states since the ward and sate congresses which saw a plethora of factions conduct parallel congresses came to a head with the confusion now beclouding the National Convention.

The ward and state congresses were supposed to produce authentic delegates for the National Convention.

The APC Reconciliation Committee, in the light of the confusion, specifically requested an additional week to address ongoing petitions from dissatisfied members.

The Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led reconciliation committee, which was inaugurated on September 15, 2021, requested an additional week to address pending petitions from dissatisfied members.

The national reconciliation was, therefore, committee established to tackle the issues that have engulfed the APC in numerous states have fallen short of its goal.

The Adamu committee was tasked with resolving the conflicts that arose from the country’ s ward, local government, and state congresses.

According to the APC’ s schedule, the Adamu- led committee was supposed to submit its report on Monday, the party would adopt it on Tuesday, and then legitimate state executives would be sworn in on Thursday.

On February 14, 2022, the party is planned to begin selling forms to all applicants for national offices, with all associated paperwork due on or before February 19, 2022.

On February 19, 2022, subcommittees would be announced, and screening of all applicants for national positions would take place between February 20 and 22, 2022, with screening appeals hearing and resolving objections resulting from the screening process on February 23, 2022.

All statutory and chosen delegates to the national convention will be accredited between February 24 and 25, 2022, ahead of the meeting’ s February 26 date.

However, due to the reconciliation’ s failure to provide its entire report, the party’ s schedule of activities may need to be adjusted.

Senator Adamu, chairman of the reconciliation committee, said the committee was still collecting petitions and wanted another week to deal with them.

”As of Sunday, we had received 47 petitions in all, and you may be interested to know that individuals were waiting for us to submit their petitions even this morning. We promised Nigerians that we would do everything in our power to ensure that everyone who has been wronged has a fair hearing, and we are following through on that promise. Because we are acting as boys’ scouts, we had to come today to submit this interim.

”Before making a complaint, a good scout obeys. As a result, we’ve been asked to submit the report as of this morning. Our interim report has been filed. There is more work to be done, as we stated when presenting the study. It’s still a work in progress when it comes to reconciliation. And while we cannot claim to have taken care of everything that has come before us, by the time the final report is done, we will be able to provide you with the actual report.

”We are still receiving petitions as of today. People are still flocking in to visit us, and in all fairness, we can’t stop them. It’s still a work in progress when it comes to reconciliation. Nobody will tell you that political confrontations are sometimes founded on ego, and other times on perception; nobody of us has control over this. Nobody has done so. So, while we can’t prohibit them from delivering their petitions, we’ll do everything we can to promote the first ones to the party.”

Senator Adamu further noted that once the committee’s findings are submitted, it will be up to the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led APC caretaker committee to impose sanctions on members who refuse to participate in reconciliation efforts.

As it is, it remains unclear if the APC is planning to sweep the petitions gathered by the Reconciliation Committee under the carpet so as to meet the February 26 deadline, or that some the matters raised by the petitioners may not likely get the needed attention.