Mai Mala Buni, the governor of Yobe State, is still the head of the All Progressive Congress’s (APC) Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), according to several sources within the party.
On Monday in Abuja, the simmering leadership crisis that has engulfed the APC for weeks took a new turn when Abubakar Bello, the governor of Niger State, invaded the party’s national office and assumed the chairmanship of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee.
Bello claimed he has President Muhammadu Buhari’s blessing when he arrived amid a heightened security presence of approximately 70 security men and no fewer than 15 police cars barricading access routes to the premises.
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Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, according to him, will be serving in an acting capacity because the CECPC Chairman, Governor Mai Mala Buni, is currently in Dubai for health reasons.
“Acting Chairman,” Bello said when asked to clarify his new role on the committee. Since the Chairman went on vacation, I’ve been acting.”
“No comment,” he said in response to allegations that Mai Mala Buni had been fired as Chairman.
President Buhari did not order Bello to replace the Yobe governor, who is now on a medical trip in Dubai, according to several APC members who spoke to Newsmen on Monday.
“As reported, President Buhari has not fired Mai Mala Buni as Chairman of the APC CECPC and replaced him with His Excellency, Abubakar Sani Bello as Sole Administrator.
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“What actually happened was that the governor has been in Dubai for weeks now for medical care; so other members of the committee came together and choose Bello to act on his behalf being a governor and most senior Northerner in the committee.
“I won’t deceive you as well; a coup was planned for Buni but he survived. The cabals made up of Muhammad Badaru, Jigawa governor; Nasir el-Rufai, Kaduna governor and Atiku Bagudu, Kebbi governor have turned their backs on him.
“We were told the cabals led by El- Rufai approached the President with an allegation that Buni plotted to remain beyond the March 26 national convention date.
“They premised their decision on a court order obtained by a member of the APC, Salisu Umoru, restraining the Buni-led CECPC and the APC from conducting its national convention until some questions before the court were answered.
“But we learnt that the cabals were aware of the lawsuit, it was originally instituted by their loyalist. The truth is that they aren’t in good terms with Buni. What happened I can’t say. Seems they wanted him to marginalise some members of the party in the scheme of things but he refused.”
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The source added that some of the cabals were eyeing vice presidency seat come 2023.
“They have perfected their plans to achieve this by controlling the party at its highest level, which made them to see Buni as a stumbling block; hence the need to remove him from office. You know Buni is a threat to them, seems he has an ambition too,” he added.
Reacting, Steven Deegbara, a member of the APC National convention Planning Committee said, “Governor Sani Bello of Niger State is a member of APC CECPC where Mai Mala Buni is Chairman.”
“It is believed that as of Monday morning, the President who left the country on Sunday had to change his mind after some governors on the platform of the party prevailed on him not to allow selfish interests by any individual to destroy the party. But the cabal went ahead to push the story of Buni’s removal,” another source told Newsmen.
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