Mr Buhari on Tuesday morning asked the NEC to reverse its decision on
the extension of the tenure of national and state officials of the APC.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of Nigeria’s ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC) last month extended the tenure of the officials by one year,
amidst dissention from party bigwigs like Bola Tinubu, ex-Lagos
governor.
In his speech read at the start of the NEC meeting on Tuesday, Mr
Buhari said the NEC decision should be reversed as it makes the party
susceptible to litigations and was unconstitutional.
President Buhari described as illegal the contentious extension of
the tenure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working
Committee (NWC) and other state officials of the party.
The president
said that after seeking legal advice from the Ministry of Justice, he
came to the conclusion that their action of February 27, 2018
contravened both the party’s and Nigeria constitution.
He further noted that though he was part of the resolution to extend
the tenure, he has however realised that their action may ruin the
chances of the party in the 2019 general elections, insisting that the
national officers must resign a month to the expiration of their tenure
and fresh elections conducted into the positions.
Addressing journalists at the end of the NEC meeting, Bolaji
Abdullahi, the party’s spokesperson, said the NEC has set up a small
technical committee to advise the party on the matter.
He said the committee is expected to submit its recommendations on or before tomorrow.
Pending that time, however, he said the last decision to extend the tenure remains.