Restructuring: APC National Caucus Considers Report
The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Caucus met on Monday night to deliberate on the report of its Committee on Nigeria’s restructuring with President Muhammadu Buhari presiding.
Held behind closed doors, the resumed Caucus meeting commenced at about 8.20 pm at the new Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.
National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, confirmed the agenda of the meeting while fielding questions from State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting.
Chief Odigie-Oyegun said the meeting discussed the party’s report on true federalism and dismissed insinuation that the Caucus deliberated on the court case instituted against him by some aggrieved party members.
Some APC members had dragged the national chairman to court over what they described as “illegal tenure elongation’’ even as others alleged that he has been running the Party’s accounts without recourse to majority of the national officers.
According to the APC Chairman, “No, the meeting concluded the agenda we started the last time we met which we did not complete.
“Today, we discussed true federalism, something a lot more serious, a lot more serious.”
Also, the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, described the Caucus as “a good meeting’’, maintaining that members deliberated on various issues relating to the party’s constitution.
“We deliberated a number of issues to do with the constitution of the party which are very important issues here, the constitution, and to prepare for NEC tomorrow, it was a good meeting,” he said.
In his remarks, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, described the forum as a routine meeting of the party to set the agenda for its NEC.
“All I can tell you is that there is a meeting which is routine and the caucus meeting is determined to set up an agenda of the NEC meeting tomorrow. And all I can tell you is that the agenda is well set.
“I believe that it will be the responsibility of NEC to decide and after a decision is taken, some of our faithful members will address the press. I don’t think it is in my place to divulge what was discussed.”
“Tactically, it is an agenda setting meeting and we have had that meeting but the main meeting will take place tomorrow,’’ Dogara said.
On tenure elongation for the Party chairman, Dogara said, “It is not a question of my being worried because I am just one perhaps of millions of APC members.
“Like I said, certainly it’s going to be an agenda for the consideration of NEC, whatever NEC decides, that will be binding on all of us as faithful members of the party.”
Also speaking after the meeting, Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State, expressed delight with the attendance and members’ comments at the meeting
“We discussed so many things – one of them is the proposed amendment of the constitution.
“We are united as a party and we believe the amendment of the constitution would unite us more and we are happy with attendance and comments by members of the caucus,’’ he added.
Present at the meeting were Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and past State governors of APC, members of the National Assembly, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha and members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC)
However, NAN reports that conspicuously absent at the Caucus meeting were APC National Leader and former Governor of Lagos State, Chief Bola Tinubu; former Acting National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; ossun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his Zamfara State counterpart, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara.