The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is said to be midwifing two key projects, which its leaders believe would help avert crisis ahead of the 2019 elections.

One of the measures is to secure across the board endorsements for President Muhammadu Buhari to allow him run without any challenger for the slot to represent the APC as it flag bearer.

The second project according to sources close to the party is the plan to extend the tenure of the incumbent National Working Committee (NWC) and postpone the convention, which should have ensured a change of guard at the NWC, by April.

It was gathered that the party is striving seriously to avert the fall outs of the convention to elect another NWC

Sources close to the party said that some influential members of the party are working
on a situation that would ensure that the APC ratifies an option of right of first refusal for President Muhammadu Buhari, which could see him go to the national convention as the sole candidate of the party.

Proponents of the project are said to have started engineering key endorsements ahead of the planned NEC meeting of the party fixed for February 27.

The source revealed that the APC plans to unfold a strategy where politicians in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), would endorse Buhari is a in unanimous votes.

Last week, the South South Caucus of the APC met in Abuja and announced it was endorsing Buhari for second term owing to the “good works” he has done in the first term so far.

The caucus, after a meeting that lasted for three hours at the Abuja home of the former Governor of Edo state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, presented a communique read by the National Vice Chairman of the APC
in the South South. Mr. Ntufam Hilliard.

Before that endorsement, the group of seven vovernors, mainly from the
Northern part of the country endorsed the President for relection, in January, a development that sparked uproar.

The governors endorsement was followed a week after by leaders of the APC in the South East, who also endorsed the President for second term.

Sources said that the series of endorsement would dovetail to a
national endorsement which the party would take to its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on February 27.

Though the President is yet to formally announce his position on the 2019 election, stakeholders believe that he should run for second term. They are already pioneering the series of endorsements which are sure to continue till February 27 when the NEC is scheduled to meet.

National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi however told the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday that the automatic ticket option was not on the agenda of the NEC for the February 27 NEC.

He said that the national convention would hold in June.

According to sources, the plan to extend the tenure of the NWC is to enable the peace efforts being embarked upon take roots such that huge cracks would not emerge in the party ahead of the 2019 elections.

“The congresses should have kick-started leading to the national
convention to elect a new NWC in April but the party is dilly dallying. The plan is to postpone the congresses and extend the life of the NWC,” a source said, adding that there are fears the cracks that would emerge if a convention is held would break the patry.

The Bridge