National leadership of the yet-to-be registered All Progressives Congress, APC, has set up a nine-man Interim Management Committee of the mega party, comprising three national principal officers each from the merging parties.
Briefing reporters in yesterday in kano, Secretary of the Central merging Committee of All Progressive Party, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, explained that the measure was adopted to facilitate the registration exercise of the mega party.
Shekarau said: “The national leadership of APC has agreed unanimously that the national principal officers of ACN, CPC and ANPP, which includes the national Chairman, national Secretary, and Treasurer, respectively, should form the interim management committee of APC for the purpose of registration of the mega party with Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, only.”
As earlier reported, Mallam Shekarau disclosed that leaders of the merging parties are expected to meet this week to appoint chairman and other officers to run the party, stressing that “their assignment will last till we secure our registration.”
Shekarau, who is also the Chairman of ANPP merger Committee, said that principal officers of APGA and DPP were left out of the Interim Management Committee because the Central Merging Committee relates with it as a group in the emerging party.
He is quoted as saying: “We in the Central Merging Committee relate with APGA and DPP as a group and we have accommodated them administratively. They are not with us as a party but as a lager group within the merging mega party.”
Shekarau disclosed that the central merging committee is winding up its duties in line with the dictate of their mandate, stressing that “all committees set up for the purpose of merger will cease to exist as soon as the interim management assumed its leadership role.
“INEC has 30 days to respond to our application and we shall be counting our days right from the day we submit same to them and I am optimistic we would scale through the hurdle.”
The former Governor of Kano, who expressed optimism that the new party will secure INEC’s registration, noted that under INEC’s guidelines, the commission has 30 days to convey approval or otherwise.