The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in a meeting on Tuesday, expelled a former National Vice Chairman of the party, South-south, Ntufam Hilliard Eta.
The committee further dissolved the state, zonal and national party structures while extending the tenure of the party’s caretaker extraordinary convention committee by 6 months.
The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, spoke with newsmen, after the meeting. He said the party approved the expulsion of Eta for his failure to withdraw the court case instituted against the caretaker committee.
The meeting had in attendance President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and other party chiefs.
Buhari, in his opening remarks during the meeting, urged the leaders of APC to respect party decisions.
He said, “I want to appeal to all our party members and leaders at all levels, to try and make the required sacrifices so that we are able to collectively restore our progressive and democratic political party, which can nurture and give expression to our collective dream of building a strong, united and developed Nigeria.
“May I use this opportunity to remind all of us of the need to recreate our negotiation secret of 2012, 2013 under our legacy parties. What guided our success to achieve the merger that produced the APC was the respect we were able to have for each other.
“In those times, decisions reached at both formal and informal consultations were respected with trusted initiatives taken and believed that they were needed to produce the required political platform that could guarantee electoral victory.
“Everyone of us as leaders ensured that those decisions were respected. I have through consultations of the caretaker committee and other leaders of the party, agree that our challenges in the party require that we take steps to rebuild the party from wards to national levels.”
