The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) led by its chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun’s tenure extension still stands despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s rejection.
President Muhammadu Buhari had Tuesday shocked members of the APC National Executive Committee (NEC) when he called for a reversal of tenure extension for party officials.
However, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the Party, in a chat with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, said the extension stands.
Abdullahi pointed out that President Buhari only expressed a personal opinion which cannot be considered the decision of the NEC which approved the extension in the first place. He insisted that the decision still stands until the NEC reverses itself.
“The president’s position has not changed the position of NEC. NEC has not reversed itself on the tenure extension. The decision of the NEC on the one-year tenure extension still stands.
“The president is not NEC. The NEC will have to reverse itself but right now, it has not done that. So, the tenure extension still stands,” Abdullahi said.
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday rejected the tenure extension for APC’s National Chairman and other elected state officials.
Buhari told members of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party in Abuja that the tenure elongation is illegal.
This comes one month after the NEC announced the elongation of the tenure of the party’s National Working Committee and other executives by one year, effective June this year.
The announcement had been made on February 27 during a NEC meeting attended by President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, APC Chairman John Oyegun and other party chieftains.
But President Buhari on Tuesday explained that after due consultation, it became imperative to overturn the resolution to extend the NWC’s tenure as it contravened Article 17 Sub-section 1 of the Party constitution which recommends a 4-year tenure for all elected officials.
The NEC’s extension of tenure was amidst dissention from party bigwigs like Bola Tinubu, ex-Lagos governor.
However, John Oyegun, the embattled national chairman of the All progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday, March 28, called off a meeting scheduled between the National Working Committee of the party and the House of Representatives caucus.
Punch reports that the meeting was unceremoniously called off after President Muhammadu Buhari rejected the elongation of the tenure of the party’s executives.
It was gathered that the meeting led by Oyegun was earlier scheduled to hold on Wednesday, March 28, at 2 p.m but never took place.
