The meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC, governors yesterday, ended in deadlock.
The meeting which was under closed-door at the Council Chamber,
Presidential Villa, Abuja started at about 2:15pm and ended at 3:30pm,
with all the governors coming out with long faces and maintained sealed
lips .
The president had apologized for coming in late as it was scheduled for 2.00pm. He said, “I apologize for coming a bit late.”
All attempts made by the State House correspondents to know the outcome of the meeting could not yield any positive result. Before the meeting went into closed-door, governors of Plateau State, Simon Lalong and Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu said the opening prayers.
Although nobody was ready to talk but findings revealed that the recent declaration by President Buhari that the elongation of the tenure of the National Working Committee, NWC, APC, was illegal and the proposed care-taker committee to be led by former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole were the main issues.
The position of the President has brought division among the governors and indeed some party faithful.
All the governors approached, Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Lalong as well as Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to speak on the outcome of the meeting all said they had reached agreement that there will be no comment.
It was however gathered that President Buhari had at some point during the meeting, left the governors to decide on the next date the meeting will reconvene, while the Zamfara Governor who is Chairman of the Governors Forum, Abdulazeez Yari, proposed April 9th and 10th, El-Rufai, challenged him on why he picked those dates.
A source privy to the meeting said that at a point, it became rowdy as each of them try to make his position known and the governors stomped out of the meeting venue.
Some of the governors emerged from the venue of the meeting wearing a frown, while others in order to douse the tensed atmosphere, held their lips, indicating they were not going to comment.
One of the governors leaving the venue of the meeting was heard telling his colleagues with him, “Some people who think they are tall, think they can control us, it will not work.”
Earlier, before President Buhari entered the Council Chambers for the meeting, the governors had formed a circle round, the Chairman of APC Governors’ Forum, Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, and were seen arguing. Some where overheard saying, “What they are bringing to the table today, we will not allow it to stand. This is a coup and we will not allow it to stand.”
All the APC Governors were in attendance including, the governor of Ogun, Ibikunle Amosun, who later joined 30 minutes after the meeting had commenced.
Apart from the governors, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Chief of Staff to the president, Abba Kyari and deputy chief of staff to the president, Ade Ipaye were also in attendance.