A report by Daily Trust newspaper indicates that Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe state and chairman of the national caretaker committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is under pressure from presidential aides to step down as the party’s leader.
According to the report, the pressure on Buni is due to the Supreme Court judgement on the election of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state, which described Buni’s chairmanship as illegality.
The special adviser to the president on political matters, Senator Babafemi Ojudu and the senior special assistant to the president on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang are among those calling for Buni-committee disbandment.
Ojudu and Enang said the judgement appeared to have swept the carpet of legality off the committee, rendering it illegal, null, void and of no legal capacity to undertake any action on behalf and in the name of the party.
They said it has also brought to question the legality of all the actions taken by the Buni-committee since inception. Meanwhile, the APC on Thursday morning, July 29 called for an emergency press briefing to be held at its secretariat in Abuja.
“Emergency press conference holding today at the APC national secretariat by 9 am prompt.”
Festus Keyamo, the minister of state for labour and employment, warned the APC of imminent legal tussles if Buni remains the party’s caretaker chairman.
The minister advised the party in a leaked memo released on Wednesday, July 28, against going ahead with its planned congresses under Buni’s leadership. According to him, the party will be running foul of the law if Buni continues to preside over its affairs.
Before now, many APC members had insisted that one of the ways to end the conflicts in the party is for the Buni-led committee to give way for a validly elected National Working Committee of the APC.
One of those who have been vocal about this stance is Senator Kabiru Marafa from Zamfara state. Marafa had stated unequivocally that the Buni committee was an illegal contraption and cannot stand the test of time.
