APC Reaffirms March 26 Convention Date

Kebbi State Governor and chairman of the progressive governors’ forum, Atiku Bagudu, and other governors of the All Progressives’ Congress extraction, after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, have reaffirmed the March 26, national convention date of the APC.

There had been speculations that some APC members were pushing for the postponement of the national convention so that the election of the national executives and the primaries to select candidates for the 2023 polls can be done simultaneously.

Bagudu, addressing state house correspondents, said the governors met with the president to congratulate him for assenting to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

He added that there were no plans to postpone the convention.

Bagudu said, “Last week, we were in this hall — about 20 APC governors — and this question came up and we clearly said we came to discuss the national convention, which is slated for March 26, and we’re working hard to ensure that on March 26, we have our convention and elect our national officers and that remains the case.”

Bagudu while reacting to reports that some governors are not satisfied with some provisions in the electoral act, said the national assembly will provide the opportunity for improvement if necessary.

He said, “Legislation, everywhere in the world, is based on continuous improvement.

“Constitutions that are 200 years old are subject to reviews sometimes and those reviews are not cut and dry. Even people who truly believe in the need for a legislation may have worries about the implications of it.

“Like I said, we’re never against the principle of amending laws. They are never against the national assembly, but even among the national assembly, there’s debate.

“To imagine that there is some legislation that is punitive to the governors or to the national assembly, I think that will be tantamount to negation of the oath of office.”