PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday met with key segments of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), as the party disclosed plans to organise an inclusive national convention and congresses, in line with its growth and expanding membership.
The meeting, held at the State House, Abuja, with the party’s national leadership, sub-national leaders and the APC caucus in the National Assembly, was described as a strategic session to align preparations and ensure synergy among the various arms of government and the party structure.
Speaking after the meeting, the National Chairman of the APC, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, said the engagement with the President was to review the party’s readiness for the forthcoming convention and congresses.
“It was just a brief meeting to review the preparations for the convention and the congresses and the synergy between all arms of government so that we can be on one page; the sub-national, the national, the National Assembly and the party,” Yilwatda said.
According to him, the party leadership also assessed the prevailing political environment and resolved to ensure that the process would be broad-based and inclusive, particularly in view of the influx of new members and governors into the party.
“Same timetable, the same planning activities, but just to study the environment and review our preparation as a party and ensure inclusivity,” he said.
Yilwatda added that the APC was determined to carry all stakeholders along as it expands.
“Both at national and sub-national, I want to carry everybody along with the party. We have new members who have come in, new governors, new members, the party is expanding every day, we are growing beyond bounds. We want to ensure that in the course of this growth nobody is left behind,” he stated.
Those at the meeting included the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio; Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Governor Abdurahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State; Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State; Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin; Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere; Chief Whip of the House, Usman Bello Kumo; Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; and the APC National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Bashiru.
On the President’s role in the party’s preparations, Yilwatda said Tinubu was fully supportive, describing his counsel as valuable.
“Excellent. Mr. President, as you know, is a shrewd politician, very experienced, and his advice was remarkable,” he said.
He also credited the party’s continued growth to Tinubu’s political experience and leadership.
“The expansion, the growth, is because of his experience and his depth of knowledge in political cycle,” the APC chairman added.
It would be recalled that the APC in late January and early February released its adjusted timetable for its various congresses and the National Convention.
In the new timetable, the ward congresses was fixed for February 18; the local government congresses are scheduled for February 20; state congresses for March 7; zonal congresses for March 21; and the National Convention to hold between March 27 and 28, all this year.
The APC is expected to intensify consultations across the federation ahead of the convention and congresses, as the party leadership seeks to consolidate unity and accommodate new entrants within its ranks.