- Moves to fill vacancies in party’s NWC
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has come up with a zoning arrangement for filling the vacant positions of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
The Nation learnt that the decision to do this was taken during the 12th NEC meeting of the party in Abuja on Thursday.
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With the election of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as the new National Chairman and Senator Ajibola Basiru as National Secretary on Thursday by the NEC, six other NWC members are vacant.
The vacancies in the NWC are occasioned by the death of a member, the resignation of three officers, and nomination of two members of the committee for ministerial appointment.
Deputy National Chairman (North) and National Women Leader are ministerial nominees, National Vice Chairman (North West), National Legal Adviser and Deputy National Publicity Secretary resigned from their positions while the office of the National Welfare Secretary became vacant following the demise of the occupant early this year.
Highly placed member of the party’s NEC told The Nation in confidence that the emergence of the new National Chairman from North West, a position earlier occupied by the North Central informed the rearrangement of the zoning pattern.
To this end, after wide consultations, the party’s highest policy-making organ arrived at the new formula.
The position of National Chairman hitherto zoned to North Central moved to North West while the Deputy National Chairman (North) and National Secretary are still being retained in the North East and South West respectively.
APC NEC also retained the position of National Welfare Secretary and the National Women Leader in South East and South-South.
In a deft political move to placate the North Central for losing the National Chairmanship seat to North West, a compromise was reached at the meeting to zone the office of the National Legal Adviser, (which was occupied by the North West) to North Central.
The Nation learnt that the resignation of the former National Legal Adviser, Barrister Ahmed Usman El-Marzuk, who hails from North West on Wednesday night made the zoning arrangement of the office to the North Central a lot easier.
According to our source, “You will recall that zoning of office was one of the issues on the agenda at our NEC meeting on Thursday. The emergence of the new National Chairman made us adjust the earlier zoning arrangement to cater for the interest of all the geopolitical zones.
“ Following the ceding of the NEC powers to the NWC and with the new zoning arrangement, zonal leaders with the affected positions will meet and present nominations to the NWC for approval.
“The new chairman and the secretary and indeed the NWC should swing into action and ensure the needful is done on time to fill the vacant positions in the 25-man administrative organ,” our source advised.