- The leadership R-APC is said to be scheduled for a meeting with President Buhari on anti-defection talks today, July 22
- The faction is also said to have drafted a list of seven strong demands it wants met before dropping defection plans
- The demands reportedly include return of Saraki and Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2019 respectively among other things
The Nigerian Tribune is reporting that the leadership of the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC), a faction of the ruling political party, has made no fewer than seven crucial demands from President Muhammadu Buhari for it not to defect.
The newspaper reports that the two sides had agreed to hold a make-or-break meeting on the defection of members of the R-APC today, Sunday, July 22 night.
NAIJ.com gathered from reports that the acceptance of the R-APC's list of demands would be crucial to the outcome of the meeting.
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The demands, according to Tribune include:
1. The return of Bukola Saraki as Senate President in the 9th National Assembly in 2019
2. The retention of Yakubu Dogara as Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives
3. The return of party structures to members of R-APC faction displaced by the APC leadership in the process of the last national convention
4. The dissolution of state executives of the APC that emerged through parallel congresses
5. A new national convention must be held and a new strong executive would be elected
6. Automatic return tickets to all members of the R-APC in the Senate and House of Representatives ahead of the 2019 election
7. Stopping of all legal actions against members of the R-APC who are currently standing trial
The newspaper quoted a source as saying that “A high-powered delegation of the Presidency visited Senator Danjuma Goje last week where it was promised that his impending case could be softened.
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"Another of such delegation had also visited some top and influential R-APC members. The plan is to cause a division in the R-APC and stall the mass defection.
"One key part of the agenda is to prevent the R-APC and the PDP from gaining majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The meeting on Sunday at the Villa will decide the fate of the APC, the R-APC and the planned merger with the PDP.”
NAIJ.com reported recently that the newly launched R-APC reportedly secured the buy-in of 30 senators and 60 members of the House of Representatives.
Members of the faction were said to have kick-started moves aimed at ensuring their defection to the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a matter of weeks.
According to report, all the processes leading to the mass defection were expected to be concluded a week before lawmakers embark on their annual recess on Saturday, July 21.
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Source: Naija.ng
