As NWC, govs meet today

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA—The Forum of State Chairmen of ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, condemned what they described as the lopsided appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari since his inauguration in May 2015.

The condemnation was delivered after several hours of meeting with the party’s National Working Committee, NWC.

Further angst on the issue is set to be delivered today after another meeting between the party’s governors and the NWC today.

Addressing journalists shortly after the meeting, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the chairmen actually faulted the reward system of the Buhari-led administration.

He said: “Another issue that came up is the issue of reward system. They expressed concern about a situation where people from the same family or the same ward were being appointed. This is not the position of NWC but the stand of the state chairmen.

‘’But, we are still collating the positions. By the time we meet with the state governors tomorrow (today) we will still discuss further and come up with a position.”

Abdullahi said the meeting resolved that a committee be set up to compile some of the grievances which would form the basis of discussion with the governors, upon which a position to be communicated to President Buhari would be taken.

He said the party hierarchy had evolved ways of funding party activities, stressing that depending on states or Federal Governments for fund was no longer tenable.

There has been a feeling of discontent among many long-suffering party faithful, who had accused the president of discarding the goose that laid the golden egg.

The forum of state chairmen of Buhari’s defunct Congress for Progressives Change CPC had constantly accused the president of neglecting their bloc, preferring instead to reward some “opportunists” who only rushed to the party when it was obvious it was going to form the central government.

Just days ago, some members of southern extraction  in the defunct CPC took President Buhari to task over the recent appointment of their former national chairman, Chief Tony Momoh as Chairman of the Governing Council of University of Jos.

Also, Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Jumai Alhassan had earlier in the month led a protest to the party’s national secretariat, saying aside her statutory appointment and that of the ambassador-designate from the state, there is “no any other meaningful appointment from the state.”