Why APC May Make U-Turn On Tenure Extension For Oyegun

APC logo (File Photo)

Indications have emerged that the All Progressives Congress, (APC) may need to re-visit its National Executive Committee (NEC) decision in which it declared that it had extended the tenure of the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, other members of its National Working Committee (NWC), and that of the 36 state executive committees, including the FCT, by one year.

The party had on Tuesday, announced the tenure extension for all elected and appointed executive officials of the party in a bid to avert a pre-election crisis that might arise from the multiple congresses and convention ahead of the 2019 elections.

APC had announced the one year tenure extension would commence from June 30, 2018 when the initial 4-year tenure of affected officials should expire.

But by Tuesday night, a statement issued by the Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum and Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari said the decision reached on tenure extension at the NEC meeting, could only be effective through a party constitution amendment, which can only be achieved by a national convention of the party.

According to Yari, “What has been done is a mere expression of interest. The power of the convention to extend tenure is exercised only by way of a constitution amendment.

“The power of the National Executive Committee of our party cannot go beyond doing so by way of constitution amendment.

“Article 30 of the APC constitution states that the ‘constitution and the schedules hereto can be amended only by the National Convention of the party’.

“The process of amending the constitution is also expressly provided in Article 30 sub section 2.

“What was done today (yesterday) was only an expression of a desire to extend the tenure of the Chief Oyegun-led national executive.”