Leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) convened at the party’s National Secretariat for its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Access to the meeting venue on Blantyre Street was restricted, with a combined team of armed security personnel, including soldiers from the Guards Brigade, cordoning off the area. Both vehicular and pedestrian movements on Blantyre Street were limited, and journalists were kept outside despite the party’s earlier release of an accredited list of reporters on Wednesday morning by spokesman Felix Morka.
Among the early arrivals at the venue were all members of the National Working Committee (NWC), the Forum of State Chairmen, former Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari, Minister of Budget and National Planning Atiku Bagudu, and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu.
Governors in attendance included those from Edo, Benue, Ondo, Ekiti, Kaduna, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Yobe, Niger, Lagos, Kogi, Ogun, and Imo, as well as the deputy governor of Ebonyi and former governors from Kogi, Kebbi, Niger, Zamfara, and Plateau.
Notably absent from the NEC meeting were former President Muhammadu Buhari, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, and former Rivers State Governor and ex-Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi.
The leader of the party, President Bola Tinubu, arrived at the venue at noon, accompanied by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas. The meeting was presided over by APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje.
This NEC meeting marks the first since Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, occurring just a day after the party’s national caucus meeting held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Some APC chieftains, including El-Rufai and former National Vice Chairman Salihu Lukman, have expressed concerns regarding the lack of internal democracy within the ruling party.
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