|
New Page 25
All set for repeat AD convention
•Over 4,000 accredited
SIMON IBE, Political Editor and
THOMAS IMONIKHE, Deputy Political Editor
ABOUT 4,797
of the 5,000 delegates expected at the Alliance for Democracy (AD) national
convention holding today in Lagos have been accredited for the event even as
indications are that elder statesman, Chief Anthony Enahoro, Alhaji Balarabe
Musa and others will grace the event.
Similarly, factional leader and former
governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande, Hon. Shola Adeyeye and Dr. Lanre
Idowu have indicated their intention to vie for the party’s national
chairmanship position and subsequently picked the requisite form.
Secretary to AD’s national convention
committee (NCC) and the party’s leader in the House of Representatives, Hon.
Wunmi Bewaji confirmed the arrival of delegates and their subsequent
accreditation in Lagos in a telephone interview with Daily Champion
yesterday.
He said delegates already accredited were
drawn from 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Delegates from Borno State, he said, were
the ones yet to be fully accredited as at 4.20 p.m. yesterday.
According to him 14 out of the 16 member
NCC were working round the clock to ensure a hitch-free event at Onikan Stadium,
Lagos, adding that all necessary arrangements have been concluded and the venue
well secured.
Asked to confirm if the immediate past
governor of Oyo, Alhaji Lam Adesina is running for the chairmanship of the
party, he said he would not know, adding, however, that he (Adesina) might have
purchased his nomination form for the position in Lagos.
The trio of Akande, Idowu and Adeyeye, who
all hail from Osun State, he disclosed, bought their forms at the AD national
secretariat in Abuja.
Speaking in a similar vein, AD National
Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye said delegates to the convention have
arrived Lagos while every effort has been made to ensure a successful
convention.
Meanwhile, the secretary of the Conference
of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) Chief Maxi Okwu, has confirmed that elder
statesman Chief Anthony Enahoro, CNPP chairman, Alhaji Balarabe Musa and All
Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) chairman, Chief Chekwas Okorie would grace
the convention.
Speaking in a telephone chat yesterday,
Chief Okwu said the gesture marked the beginning of a major alignment among
politicians with progressives leaning in the country.
According to him, the new understanding
among the progressives would help checkmate the activities of the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP).
|
