FCT, Abuja – Former President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo, were conspicuously absent at the maiden National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which was held at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday, February 26.
Buhari and Osinbajo topped the list of notable founding members and former political officeholders, such as former governors, who were not present at the event.
Some of the former governors notably absent are Mallam Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers and Ekiti’s Kayode Fayemi. Others who have been absent are former Senate President Ahmed Lawan and former Speaker and current Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila.
The curiosity aroused from their absence was due to the fact that they are statutory members of the APC NEC and are expected to be in attendance.
APC endorsed Tinubu for second term
At the event, President Bola Tinubu’s chances of flying the party’s flag in the 2027 presidential election got a boost as members in attendance passed an overwhelming vote of confidence on him. He was widely endorsed with sound echoes of “no vacancy at Aso Rock”, following the singing of the usual mandate song on his arrival.
At the event, President Bola Tinubu said the governors could testify that they are getting more allocations to run their states following his decision to remove the fuel subsidy.
Tinubu explained that there was no way Nigeria would have survived the economic dilemma if he had not removed the fuel subsidy on his first day in office, adding that he could beat his chest that the governors were getting more allocations.
Tinubu speaks on fuel subsidy removal
The president noted that the removal of the fuel subsidy had made enough funding available for the local governments to operate as well as the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to support Nigerian students in their educational pursuits.
Tinubu explained that the government could make a clear future for Nigeria and that he liked what was happening around the world because it was teaching the lesson that Nigeria can build itself and help Africa grow.
His statement read in part:
“There is no way Nigeria could have survived the continuation of the fuel subsidy. There is no way; today, I can beat my chest and each of the governors here that allocations to the states are triple.”
See the video of his comment here:
Why El-Rufai is fighting a lost battle within APC
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna state, was adjudged to be fighting a lost battle with President Bola Tinubu and the APC.
Omotayo Yusuf, a political commentator in an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, commented while speaking on the recent criticism of El-Rufai on Tinubu and the APC.
