Buhari, APC Nat’l Caucus To Hold Emergency Meeting Monday

Following the botched February 16 Presidential/National Assembly elections, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an emergency meeting of the All Progressives Congress [APC] National Caucus in Abuja on Monday.

The meeting was called to discuss prevailing national issues, especially the postponement by the Independent National Electoral Commission of the earlier scheduled Feb. 16 Presidential and National Assembly elections till Saturday, 23 February.

NAN reports that the APC caucus which is a statutory organ of the party, is normally chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari and has the Vice President and all the party’s former governors as members.

Its membership also includes the party’s serving governors, and members of its National Working Committee (NWC), among others.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had a few hours to commencement of the presidential and National Assembly elections announced the rescheduling of the exercises by one week.

By the postponement, the Presidential and National Assembly elections now come up on Feb. 23, while the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections come up on March 9.

Yakubu had said the decision to postpone the elections was taken after a meeting with INEC Commissioners, citing “logistics’’ problems as issues that prompted the postponement.

He said the decision was further necessitated after reviewing the level of the commission’s preparedness for the exercise.

He stressed that postponing the elections was a difficult decision, but was necessary for successful delivery of the elections and to consolidate on Nigeria’s democracy.