Abuja agog as 2,322 delegates elect APC presidential

Abuja is agog as no fewer than 2,322 delegates from 36 states and the FCT have converged on the city to elect a flag bearer for the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the 2023 general elections. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the party’s special national convention has been scheduled for June 6 to 8.

Twenty three aspirants are jostling to clinch the coveted position, although efforts are on by the party, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, to come up with a likely consensus flag bearer. In North West, a state by state analysis of the delegates shows that Kano has 132; Kaduna, 69; Katsina, 102; Kebbi, 63; Jigawa, 81; Sokoto, 69, while Zamfara has 42.

In North East, Taraba has 48; Bauchi, 60; Adamawa, 63; Gombe, 33; Borno, 81, while Yobe has 51 delegates. Similarly, in South East, Abia has 51 delegates, Anambra, 63; Ebonyi, 39; Enugu, 51 and Imo, 81. In South West, Lagos has 60; Ogun, 60; Ondo, 54; Ekiti, 48; Oyo, 99 and Osun, 90. In South South, Akwa Ibom has 93; Cross River, 54; Bayelsa, 24; Delta, 75; Rivers, 69 and Edo has 57. In North Central, Kwara has 48; Kogi, 63; Niger, 75; Nasarawa, 39; Plateau, 51; Benue, 66, while FCT has 18.

The Chairman of the Convention Planning Committee, Gov. Abubakar Atiku of Kebbi State, who is also the Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, has promised a hitch free exercise. NAN observed that, while all major hotels in the city and its environs had been fully booked, there had been a spike in vehicular traffic. The FCT Police command had also announced traffic diversions, affecting many routes leading to Eagle Square, the venue of the epoch event.

Spokesperson for the command, DSP Josephine Adeh, said in a statement that it had also mapped out an operational order. This, she said, was to allow maximum deployment of human and material resources for the success of the convention. (NAN)