March 26 Convention Date Remains Intact – APC Governors Reiterate
March 26 Convention Date Remains Intact – APC Governors Reiterate.
The Chairman, Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) and Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, has said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will not shift the March 26 convention date despite the change in the timetable for the 2023 general elections, newspeakonline.com reported.
But Bagudu stated this on Tuesday while fielding questions from State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The new timetable of activities released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday, after the President signed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2022 into law last Friday, is putting political parties under pressure to meet the timeline set for primaries.
Also, there were speculations that a section of the party was pushing for the postponement of the national convention so as to have both the election of the national executives and the primaries to select its candidates for the 2023 elections simultaneously.
But Bagudu assured that the party will maintain the March 26 date for the exercise.
He added that the governors met with the president to congratulate him for signing the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2022 and on the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in some of the by-elections conducted over the weekend.
The APC governors at the meeting include Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti); Aminu Masari (Katsina); Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna); Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa); Yahaya Bello (Kogi); Hope Uzodinma (Imo); Gboyega Oyetola (Osun); Dapo Abiodun (Ogun); Sani Bello (Niger); Umar Ganduje (Kano); and the outgoing deputy governor of Anambra State, Nkem Okeke.
