Apparently to quell welling discontent within his ruling All Progressives Congress APC, National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu on Monday engaged APC states' Chairmen to brief them on his stewardship.
Speaking at the opening session of the parley which came few days after he met state governors, Adamu also sought political patronage from President Bola Tinubu for party stakeholders.
While he urged the party chairmen to always draw the attention of the National Working Committee NWC to crisis in their states or at the national level, Adamu said the parley was important since the chairmen are the ones who "bear the brunt" in their respective states.
At a meeting with the state governors last week, Adamu had stirred the hornet's nest when he dissociated the NWC from the appointment of principal officers in both chambers of the National Assembly. His refusal to also provide an audited report of the party's finances over the past one year had caused rancour within the NWC.
Also, there have been speculations that some stakeholders of the party, particularly from the South West, had developed a list of Adamu's "sins" which they hope to use to get the presidency's support for his removal.
This was as it emerged that governors of the party would be meeting on Tuesday to deliberate on the state of affairs in the party ahead of the rescheduled National Caucus and National Executive Committee NEC meetings.
Addressing the chairmen, Adamu said; "We thought that having a meeting with those of you as Chairmen who bear the brunt - of course, the governors are the heads of our party in the states - but you run the party on a daily basis, and a good blend of understanding between you and the governors and members of the NWC will go more than the ordinary way in enhancing the kind of leadership that we want to have for the party.
"Not only that, there will be good understanding if you do know which way we are going at the national level so that we can all hope and go in the same direction with you.
"At the same time, if we noticed there is a problem in the state as we normally do, or if you noticed that there is a problem that's happening at the national level, it is your duty for you to share with us whether it is at your end or our end, so that together, we can face the issue. That cannot happen unless we have this kind of getting together and meeting from time to time.
"Now, we just came out of an election and we thank God we have been very successful at the election. As at today, we have 20 governors. We have three off season elections and by the grace of God some of them will be coming to APC kitty. That is our hope. And if that happens, we will be having 23. Now, to whom much is given, much is expected. If Nigerians stand up to support the party the way they have done, we will all be getting the results we are talking about.
"Sometime earlier this month, I must let us know that we had a very fruitful meeting with the state governors. The essence of the meeting was to brief them on the fact that we are going to have our first National Executive Committee, NEC since the election of 2023. And it will be the first our President, and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be attending with his Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima.
"We thought it necessary to sit with chiefs executives of states and the leadership of our party in various states. We had a very fruitful and one of the longest meeting with the governors", he stated
Board vacancies
While he noted that all APC members cannot get appointments to serve in government, Adamu said in the next two months, the true picture of board vacancies would emerge.
He said; "Every APC member has an inherent right to hope to get some patronage and we cannot all get one here. We cannot all be ministers of government. We cannot all end up as board members, directors of parastatals and MDAs across the country. But we do expect some patronage from the government that we are forming.
"The President has just started and he is doing his extensive consultations before coming up with his nominees for Ministers. The nomination of the Ministers will come first. They will go through their screening until they are pronounced after they have been submitted before Mr. President and Mr President will formally appoint his Ministers and swear them in.
"Only after doing that will he disclose each of them to the country to know which Minister is going to which ministry and how many ministries we are going to have. After that is done, the Ministers assume office and make a comprehensive report from all the MDAs under them before we can know what vacancies exist of Chief Executives, directors and part-time directors. These are some of the exercises that will take place within the next two months. It cannot happen by next week but certainly that is what we should be expecting.
"It is our hope and prayers that Mr. President will come along with us in that regard and strengthen the relationship of the party in the states and the national level will enjoy some level of patronage in the new government", Adamu added.
Speaking in behalf of the Forum of APC State Chairmen, Secretary of the Forum and Chairman, Cross River State APC, Alphonsus Oga restated the confidence of the Forum in the Adamu-led NWC.
He said; "This is a moment where rumours and blackmail can thrive, but as a party, there is only one APC, and we came again in solidarity to say we are strongly behind our National Chairman and the NWC".
On the issue of federal appointments, Oga said the state chapters of the party were asked to consult with their respective governors or relevant stakeholders in non-APC states to recommend nominees to the president.
"Whatever you might have heard about board membership, those letters were addressed to state chairmen, and every state chairman is loyal to his State governor and where there is no governor, they are loyal to the stakeholders. There is no such crisis, in fact we must commend Mr President for keeping to his promise of saying that State chairmen should be captains of these ships and I can assure you that letters were addressed to us", he stated.
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