CONVENTION: APC works towards consensus, tips Adamu Abdullahi as national chairman
All Progressives Congress (APC’s) national convention, is billed for this Saturday, and former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, is being paraded as possible consensus national chairman of the party.
But, the chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, and Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, has voiced out what was considered a disagreement to the consensus arrangement.
Fayemi spoke on Thursday in Abuja at a ‘High-Level Policy Dialogue Themed: Whither Democracy in West Africa?’, organized by the Centre for Democracy and Development CDD West Africa.
He said “On the question of whether the president has anointed anyone to be the chairman of the party, I have no knowledge of that but the president is well within his rights to have a preferred candidate. But in our party, let him come and campaign for that candidate at Eagle Square on Saturday. If his candidate wins, fine. If his candidate loses, well, he is going to have to live with it.”
Fayose’s position was a surprise because Adamu’s candidacy was said to have been unanimously agreed to on Wednesday by governors of the party at a meeting with the president.
Adamu was, until recently, the chairman of the APC National Reconciliation Committee.
President Muhammadu Buhari had before now expressed his preference for a consensus arrangement and was reported to have endorsed Adamu.
Reports said the remaining six national chairmanship aspirants were on Thursday engaged in a series of meetings regarding the consensus arrangement.
It was gathered that the aspirants were divided whether to be obedient to the president or to go ahead and face Adamu in a contest on Saturday.
Lawan assures of consensus
Senate president and leader of the APC National Assembly Caucus, Ahmad Lawan, briefing State House correspondents at the end of a meeting with President Buhari, saing the essence of the engagement was for the party to achieve consensus.
Asked if the meeting with the President concluded on the consensus issue especially the chairmanship position and why the party allowed aspirants to buy forms when it had in mind to go through consensus, Ahmad said the consensus issue was a work in progress.
He said “The essence of these engagements is for the party to achieve consensus, and consensus is a process. That doesn’t just happen like that. So, I believe that before we go into the convention squarely on Saturday, by the grace of God, you would have a lot of consensus reached and maybe the sort of document that we call or refer to as unity list, that is bringing all the agreed positions, where consensus have been achieved.”
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