The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Abdullahi Ganduje is expected to inaugurate new officers that will replace the outgoing National Deputy Chairman for North, Senator Abubakar Kyari and National Women Leader, Dr Betta Edu on Wednesday.
OsunDailyNG recalls that President Bola Tinubu nominated Kyari and Edu as ministers.
The duo are among the forty-five ministers-designate that will take their oath of office at the presidential villa today (Monday).
A source at the secretariat of the ruling party who spoke with Punch on the development said, “We heard Ganduje and the NWC members is set to deliberate on the new officers to fill up the vacant offices in their meeting for Wednesday.”
The move to begin preparation for the swearing-in of new officers became necessary after the ruling party received a list of nominations from State party chapters in line with the mandate given to the NWC at the last NEC meeting.
Aside from the slots of Kyari and Edu who will be departing for Tinubu’s cabinet, the positions of former National Vice Chairman for North-West, Mallam Salihu Lukman and National Legal Adviser, Ahmad El-Marzuq who recently quit the party are vacant.
Other vacant positions include Deputy National Publicity Secretary, formerly occupied by Murtala Ajaka, who is running for the office of Kogi governor on the platform of the Social Democratic Party and National Welfare Officer, which was previously occupied by the late Friday Nwosu.
The new officers recommended by the State APC chapters awaiting NEC ratifications are former Cross River State Commissioner for Local Government, Dr. Stella Odey-Ekpo (Women Leader); Borno party chairman, Ali Dalori (Deputy National Chairman for North); ex-Nasarawa State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Abdulkarim Kana (Legal Adviser), former Abia State House of Assembly Speaker Martins Azubuike (Welfare Officer) and ex-Special Adviser on Water Resources to Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Ismail (Deputy National Publicity Secretary).
But the source noted that, “Although the name of the replacement for Lukman has not been officially sent, we were told Kaduna APC Chairman, Commodore Emmanual Jekada (retd), is their choice to emerge as the next National Vice Chairman for North-West.
“I can also tell you for free that these are proposed names. But nothing is cast in stone. For now, the names are yet to get the nod of the NWC. We have not yet discussed them nor submitted it to NEC as a body”.
