Following the failure of the ruling All Progressives Congress’ leadership to write a new notification to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) within the 21-day legal timeframe, there are clouds of uncertainty hanging over the much-delayed national convention.
Already, the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) had failed to start the sale of nomination forms for zonal congresses scheduled to take place between Monday, February 28 and Thursday, March 3, 2022, despite having previously released a timetable and schedule of activities.
In a letter signed by the Chairman and Secretary of the Caretaker Committee, Governor Mai Mala Buni and Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, respectively, the Caretaker Committee informed INEC of its plans to hold zonal congresses on Saturday, March 26, 2022.
Despite doing a U-turn and rescheduling the convention for March 26, the ruling party did not notify the commission of the change in the convention arrangements until 21 days before the original date.
A source at the Commission stated he couldn’t confirm the receipt of any new correspondence from the ruling party, despite the fact that the commission should have received the new letter by yesterday.
“I am unable to confirm whether APC has written to the Commission to advise them of the revised date, although the party was required to do so by yesterday to meet the 21-day limit. “However, I’d like to point out that they still have the option of writing a reminder rather than a new letter,” he added.
Another source said the Caretaker Committee is not yet prepared to host the convention, and that the party’s leadership is considering combining the convention with the party’s primary, claiming that conducting the two events separately would be extremely difficult.
