After the INEC’s damning letter which punctured the anomaly in the power tussle in the ruling party, the Governor Sani Bello-led CECPC yesterday made a u-turn and said Buni remained in charge of the party.
Addressing the media at the national headquarters of the party in Abuja, the spokesman of the committee, Ismaeel Ahmed, said Buni was still the chairman.
“Somebody asked about the position of Governor Mai Mala Buni in the party. I think it is pretty simple. I don’t know why this is a complicated process for a lot of people not to understand. Since the inception of this CECPC on June 25, 2020, whenever the chairman is not around and Governor Sani Bello is around, he acts on behalf of all as the chairman.
“It has always been the case that has never changed. Now, we have a convention on March 26. The chairman wrote a letter and transmitted power to Governor Bello to enable him go for medical treatment. Those are two emergencies. He has a medical emergency that cannot wait for convention. We have a convention that cannot wait for him to be healthy.
“So, one has to leave for the other; whichever, he has transmitted a letter and Governor Sani Bello has been acting appropriately. Why is it so difficult for people to understand that? I cannot understand why people are making this allegation.
Governor Bello is acting on the full authority of the caretaker committee and stakeholders, and with the full consent of Governor Mai Mala Buni. It is very clear and simple. If anybody has issues with any of our decisions, he can head to court. For now, we are doing it with the full backing of the law. So, there is no ambiguity on this, absolutely none,” he said.
Meanwhile, reacting to questions from journalists, Ismaeel Ahmed disclosed that the previously scheduled zonal congresses would now be part of the national convention. He assured that the March 26th national convention was on course and sacrosanct.
The directive of President Buhari on the sack of Buni as chairman of the party’s caretaker committee has been watered down because of the procedural glitch around the move that might cause the party serious trouble.
Buhari had, during a meeting with some APC governors, including Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna) and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), while on his way to London for medical attention, reportedly ordered for the immediate sack of Buni for deliberately working against the March 26 national convention of the party.
While handing down the directives, the president, after he was told that Buni and his co-travellers had secured a judgement to frustrate the convention, said the Yobe governor and the party’s secretary, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, should be sacked “immediately.’’
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, were directed to ensure the proper implementation of the president’s directive.
The two appointees of the president were to work with the governors to carry out the assignment, it was gathered.
They were to announce the sack of Buni and the emergence of Governor Sani Bello on Monday.
The deployment of security operatives to the APC secretariat on Monday was part of the move to implement the presidential order.
A governor from the North-East has reportedly moved in to save Buni from being embarrassed.
A top source said the governor went to some of his colleagues and pleaded that Buni should be given a soft-landing on the ground that the announcement of the sack would not only embarrass the Yobe governor, but it was capable of inflating the crisis in the party.
Other loyalists of Buni, including those in the presidency joined the governor in the quest to soften the directives. The North-East governor was said to have assured his colleagues that he had secured the commitment of Buni that he would not interfere and fight back.
It was based on the intervention that the Niger governor, rather than declaring himself as the new chairman of the caretaker, said he was in charge following the absence of Buni. The Yobe governor had, penultimate Wednesday, left the country for Dubai for medical attention.
Recall that when Bello took over on Monday, he said he had the blessing of the president to assume the mantle of leadership, but he was doing so because Buni had travelled.
“I have been acting for a while since the chairman (Buni) travelled,” Bello said while responding to questions on why he presided over the party’s affairs.
Report has it that Buni, who has been piloting the affairs of the ruling party since June 2020, is also planning to meet Buhari in London. A credible source said this was why the Yobe governor, who ought to have returned to Nigeria.
As the tussle persists, the pro-Yobe governor and those who are against him have taken their struggle to London to meet President Buhari, our correspondent learnt.
It was gathered that four ministers and some aides of the president who are in support of Buni travelled to London to convince the president to rescind his decision on the Yobe governor’s sack.
A source said that the ministers and other pro-Buni aides of the president departed the country on Thursday.
“They have gone to plead with the president to allow Buni conclude the assignment of the caretaker committee, which is to organise convention of the party,” he said.
It was also gathered that governors who met the president before his trip are preparing to go to London.
El-Rufai had on Wednesday said 19 of the 22 APC governors were in support of Buni’s removal.