Candidates aspiring to occupy office of the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are to converge on Thursday in Abuja, to brainstorm on how to move the party forward ahead of the February 2022 national convention of the party.
Governor of Yobe State and Chairman of the APC Caretaker/Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee, Hon. Mai Mala Buni, is to chair the meeting.
Top contenders to the office of APC national chairman are a former governor of Benue State and current Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume; a former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff; a former governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura; a former governor of Gombe State, Danjuma Goje; a Senator representing Niger East, Mohammed Sani Musa; aa former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari and a former governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda.
Others are; a former Deputy National Chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Saliu Mustapha; Mr Sunny Moniedafe; a former Governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima and Mohammed Saidu Etsu.
A statement on Sunday by Chairman of the APC Summit, Babatunde Ayeni, said a prominent chieftain of the party and Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, would deliver a keynote paper, titled: “APC beyond 2023: The task ahead – The role of stakeholders.”
According to the statement, the summit with the theme: “Towards ensuring enduring democracy”, is a platform designed to contribute to the development of the nation’s democracy.
“The summit aims at providing workable templates for good governance and serves as a medium for deepening democratic norms and institutions by engaging key players in politics, public administration, academia, and economy.
“Reports and suggestions on the lecture will be made available to the party and interested members of the public,” the statement said.
It added that this year’s edition of the summit is designed to avail all the national chairmanship aspirants the opportunity to share their views and present their plans and programmes on how to move the party forward.
The maiden edition of the summit was held in December 2020, with the Director-General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), Salihu Moh. Lukman, as the guest speaker.