Governors keep mum on meeting with Buhari
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this motion was duly carried by a majority of members present at the last nec meeting even though some of our party members have since spoken up very vehemently against it. others have even taken the matter to court2 he said in particular i think it is important for me to speak quickly on the contentious issue of the tenure of our national and state executive officers1 there are speculations that the governors discussed the issue of tenure elongation of party leaders1 at the end of the meeting the governors left the state house without speaking with journalists on the outcome of the dialogue1 one of the governor was heard saying that they were directed not to speak with journalists over issues discussed at the meeting1 sources said that the meeting could not reach consensus on some of the issues discussed including the challenges facing the apc national executives over tenure elongation1 the governors who appeared divided over the issue of tenure elongation for the apc national executives had met briefly among themselves before the arrival of president buhari for the meeting1 buhari had at the apc national executive committee nec meeting on march 27 said the tenure elongation of the partys executives was illegal and unconstitutional1 the apc national chairman mr john odigie-oyegun had earlier today inaugurated a committee to advise the party on the way forward following president buharis recent opposition to the tenure extension1 the nec had extended by a year the tenure of odigie-oyegun-led executives and others across all levels of the party starting from june1 the president said the decision was unconstitutional and already causing acrimony within the party1 the meeting on tuesday was held at the council chambers in abuja and all the governors refused to unveil the reason for the meeting1 as we all know a motion was moved at the last national executive committee meeting of february 27 2018 to the effect that when the tenure of the current executives expire in june this year they should be allowed to continue for one year1 the governors of the all progressives congress apc have met with president muhammadu buhari after the february meeting they had in katsina but refused to disclose their discussion1 on my own part i have taken some time to review and seek advice on the resolution. and what i found is that it contravenes both our party constitution and the constitution of the federal republic of nigeria1 another meeting between the apc governors and the president would be reconvened next week at the same venue1 governors at the meeting include yahaya bello kogi jubrilla bindow adamawa badaru abubakar jigawa rauf aregbesola osun atiku bagudu kebbi rotimi akeredolu ondo abdufatah ahmed kwara1 also in attendance are godwin obaseki edo abdullahi ganduje kano tanko al- makura nasarawa kashim shettima borno rochas okorocha imo akinwunmi ambode lagos abiola ajimobi oyo abubakar bello niger1 the rest include aminu tambuwal sokoto abdulaziz yari zamfara simon lalong plateau samuel ortom benue nasir el-rufai kaduna and ibikunle amosun ogun1 katsina state governor aminu masari and ibrahim geidam of yobe were absent at the meeting while gov. abdullahi abubakar of bauchi state was represented by his deputy1 the president had earlier in february met with the apc governors when he was in his hometown in daura in katsina state1 chairman of apc governors forum and imo state governor rochas okorocha led the governors on the visit coming exactly one year to the presidential election1 okorocha told journalists that the governors were in daura to commiserate with president buhari over the loss of two members of his extended family1

Buhari shocks Oyegun, reverses tenure elongation
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this motion was duly carried by a majority of members present at the last nec meeting even though some of our party members have since spoken up very vehemently against it. others have even taken the matter to court2 buhari said he was optimistic that the on-going meeting would provide an avenue to resolve the outstanding issues and consolidate plans towards making apc stronger1 he told the national executive committee meeting of the party in abuja on tuesday that he had reflected on the elongation and also sought advice and had come to the conclusion that it is unconstitutional1 the apc had in its nec meeting on february 27 extended the tenure of members of national working committee nwc led by john odigie-oyegun by one year1 president muhammadu buhari has ordered the reversal of tenure elongation of chief john odigie-oyegun and other national and state executive officers of the all progressives congress apc1 i have taken some time to review and seek advice on the resolution. and what i found is that it contravenes both our party constitution and the constitution of the federal republic of nigeria1 while the apc constitution in article 171 and 13.2b limits the tenure of elected officers to four years renewable once by another election the 1999 constitution of nigeria as amended in section 223 also prescribes periodic elections for party executives at regular intervals which must not exceed four years1 furthermore article 31 of our party constitution provides that any principal officer wishing to re-contest or contest for another post must resign from his current post at least one month before the election1 he described the elongation of their tenure by one year as unconstitutional1 buhari explained however that it was expected that a fresh elections be conducted once the tenure of the current executives approaches its end1 a caretaker committee cannot remedy this situation and cannot validly act in place of elected officers1 furthermore i think if we deviate from the constitutional provisions we might be endangering the fortunes of our party. if the tenure of our party executives can be legally faulted then it means that any nominations and primary elections that they may conduct can also be faulted1 this is not to talk of divisions that would arise and is already arising within the party when some of our members feel that they are being denied the right to aspire to executive positions or that internal democracy is not at play within the party1 i am therefore of the firm view that it is better to follow strictly the dictates of our party and national constitutions rather than put apc and its activities at grave risk1 he said that a timetable had already been approved for the holding of congresses and elections1 i think these should be allowed to go forward and all efforts should now be geared towards making them a great success1