The All Progressive Congress APC said it had zoned the party chairmanship position to the North.
Under the new arrangements which will be done through consensus, all the positions hitherto held by the South will go to the North, while those held by the North, will go to the south.
This was part of the outcome of the consultative meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the Governors of the party at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Atiku Bagudu, Governor of Kebbi State and chairman of the APC Governors Forum, while leading other governors at a Media briefing after meeting with President Buhari, revealed that the party had to follow the advice of President Buhari to follow a consensus approach in arriving at the choice of its next National Chairman.
The governors’ meeting with the President was attended by Simon Lalong of Plateau State and Nasir el- Rufai of Kaduna State.
According to him, “the President reminded us that we have produced a number of national chairmen by consensus. Baba Akande emerged as the pioneer chairman of the party by consensus. John Oyegun emerged by consensus. Adams Oshiomhole emerged by consensus. So, he is a believer in consensus as one of the options of producing leadership, and he urged us to explore consensus, so that we can generate a list.
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Bagudu said the party had agreed on a zoning formula for all the six geopolitical zones and the need to swap positions between the North and the South, ahead of the 2923 Presidential elections.
“ Northern zones will take positions that Southern zones had in the last eight years and vice versa. So, it’s a very simple, equitable and fair formula”
They also agreed to go back and consult with the party members at the zonal level, and look at the positions that are available and kickstart the process for the convention preparation.
“While recognizing that many people who have indicated interest are equally competent, but knowing that just one person will occupy the office, consensus is part of our Constitution and urged us to work towards consensus”
He disclosed that the governors have also been working to ensure that as part of equitable arrangement, zoning and consensus are incorporated.
“We have done that at the lower levels, and even at the national level it’s almost certain that we will achieve it.”
The meeting also affirmed the March 26th date for the party’s national convention as earlier announced by the party
“ The governors informed Mr. President that we have had the briefing from the caretaker committee and we are supportive of their position.
While noting that the zonal congresses are not explicitly stated in the APC Constitution, they however believed that all challenges will be handled.
The Governors said they were all United behind President Buhari on the arrangements for the convention
“ We are in total support of Mr. President, we are appreciative of his leadership, we commend him for his leadership. We are appreciative of the sacrifice of the national caretaker, and extraordinary convention planning committee. And we thanked them for the successes recorded under them. Our party like I said, is greater and stronger, with more members by the day”
