BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
The governors of the All Progressives Congress under the auspices of Progressives Governors Forum and the party’s National Working Committee failed to decide on the date of the campaign for its presidential candidate in the forthcoming general elections in 2023 after a marathon meeting at its National Secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday.
Fielding questions from the media at the end of the meeting, chairman of the PGF and governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu said their visit at the National Secretariat was to strategize and discuss on campaign.
“What I will say is Governors of the APC, members of the Presidential Campaign Council visited the Chairman and the NWC members to strategize and discuss on campaign and the chairman briefed us about the party and we appreciate how well our party has been doing in the polity.”
When asked to react to the claims that some governors are not comfortable with campaign list, he said, “Governors are very proud of our party, we are very proud of our party leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, we are very proud of the conventions that produced both our national chairman and our presidential candidate in the person of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the vice presidential candidate in the person of Kashim Shettima, we are very proud of the actions of the national chairman and the NWC, we are very proud of the actions of the Presidential Campaign Council.
“We are happy that we are discussing even though there were list that were unfortunate that the campaign (council list) which the party would have announced, a mistake but I am happy that the party is solidly behind our candidate and our party and whatever lists that have come out erroneously, we believe it will be sorted out.”
Speaking in the same vein, the National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu claimed that the NWC is very comfortable with the arrangements adding that the party has established machinery for resolving matters.
“We are very comfortable, we have established machinery for resolving anything. We are together with the Governors’ Forum and NWC.
I believe this meeting we had is more than useful to us. For us nothing short of victory and that is the spirit of this meeting.
The party chairman wouldn’t want to divulge the date to flag off the campaign when asked by journalists.
He said, “Don’t be faster than the party’s programme. Whatever you want to have so much in a hurry you may be a loser in the end. The fact of the matter is, we as a party, as APC, will determine when we will do what as long as it is within the framework of INEC’s guidelines.”
While opening the meeting, the national chairman charged the governors to lead the party to victory in their various states.
“Essentially we want to interact with our governors who are the custodians of the fate of APC in their various states that they are privileged by God to lead at this point in time of Nigeria’s democratic dispensation. Being the chief executive officers of their various states; the onus of our great party lies in the hands of God and in their hands because they are the commanders of the party fortunes in their various states.
“We cannot make meaningful progress in the affairs of these states, particularly in an election year that is approaching. We cannot plan without the buy-in of our governors so that we can stand together, believing that we share the same aspirations. We will plan together to see how best we can deliver the interest of the party and ensure that victory is ours in the 2023 general election that is by the corner. That is the essence of this meeting.”
Earlier, the Director General for the Presidential Campaign Council, Governor Simon Lalong who stood in for PGF Chairman, Atiku Bagudu before his arrival said, “We are very happy our party is moving very well. Today we have an invitation from the national chairman and that invitation also went to the campaign council. So the Progressive Governors Forum invited the campaign council to a meeting and from there, that is why you can see the meeting came jointly with progressive governors who are also part of the campaign council for proper briefing.
“When we were coming in, some governors were confused. They have not visited your office since you renovated it. We use this opportunity on behalf of governors to congratulate you. This is the real office of the party in government. I hope some people will see and others will come and copy us. Once again, I want to say we are here at your instance and also at your invitation”.
The meeting had the PGF Chairman, Atiku Bagudu, Governors Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State, Sani Bello of Niger State and Bello Matawale of Zamfara State.
