ANPP Govs, Trustees Meet over Crisis
From Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Seven governors elected on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the party's Board of Trustees headed by former military vice president, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu will today meet on the leadership crisis rocking the party.
THISDAY gathered that the meeting was at the instance of the governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Saminu Turaki.
ANPP is currently facing leadership crisis which has thrown the party into two factions under Chief Don Etiebet, the national chairman who is said to have been suspended by another faction headed by Lt. General Jeremiah Useni (rtd), the Deputy National Chairman (North).
At the last meeting of the ANPP national caucus, it nullified all suspensions made by the two factions under Etiebet and Useni and ordered a return to the status quo.
According to the national caucus of the party, "the suspension of the National Chairman, Chief Don Etiebet by the party's committee of states' chairmen and the suspension of the National Secretary, Alhaji Sani El Katunzu and that of the Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa by the National Working Committee (NWC) are hereby nullified."
The caucus also set up two committees; the Reconciliation Committee headed by the Governor of Yobe State, Bukka Abba Ibrahim and another committee headed by the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezuoke.
But in spite of the intervention of the national caucus, the two factions have continued to exist while the crisis continue to faster.
Today's meeting would afford the Board of Trustees and the National Caucus the opportunity to finally intervene and resolve the crisis.
While governors of the party are said to be behind the embattled national chairman, Etiebet, only the Sokoto State Governor, Bafarawa is the arrow head of the Useni group.
Meanwhile, it is still not certain whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would monitor the September 29 national convention called by the Bisi Akande faction of the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
Speaking in an interview with THISDAY, INEC National Commissioner in Charge of Information and Publicity, Mr. Settley Daze said INEC is yet to take a position on the issue.
"We are yet to take a position to monitor the convention or not. The commission will have to take a decision to know whether the convention is all-inclusive," the INEC Commissioner stated.
INEC Secretary, Abubakar Juaro had in a public statement informed the party factions in that October 31 still remained the deadline they are expected to reconcile its differences or hold a national convention to elect their recognized leaders in line with the constitution of the party.
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