By Sunday, January 9, All Progressives Congress, APC governors will meet to decide a new date for the party’s national convention.

The Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, met with the President at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Friday.

Speaking with State House Correspondents, Lalong noted that deliberations at the Sunday meeting would centre on picking a date for the party’s convention.

It would be recalled that In an interview recently, President Buhari warned that by dilly-dallying, the APC might be setting itself up for defeat by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 presidential election.

The governor said, “Some people like OUK (Orji Uzor Kalu) are pushing for the conduct of the presidential primary before the convention. That is not possible. The caretaker committee chairman of the party, who is also a governor, needs to return to his state and pay attention to governance.

“The idea of the caretaker committee is just for the members to oversee the party for just six months. Now, we are almost having them as alternative to the party’s National Working Committee. That will not work. We want to put the convention behind us.

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“Look at the PDP, they have held their convention and have moved on. We need not pay too much attention to distractions. The convention should hold so that we can face other issues in the party.”

Lalong, on his part, described Buhari’s caution as a wake-up call on the party to have a seamless convention to avoid disintegration.

Lalong said the APC governors had assured Buhari that the convention would hold in February.

Lalong said, “I agree that all the times there are meetings, especially taking final decisions on the party; I’m always part of it and part of it was also why I visited the President and the President still stands committed that there must be an immediate convention.

“You know, when a convention is coming, there are fears here and there; some people will tell you it will work, some will say it will not work. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but the visit to the President has already assured us and you know that there is already a notice that all the governors are meeting on Sunday. By Sunday we will tell you when we’re having the convention.”

“We’ve taken a date already. I think our first date before Christmas, we said we’re going to hold the convention in February and we are still working towards that, as far as I’m concerned, except things change from another angle. But as far as I’m concerned, we’re working towards our convention in February.”

Lalong explained that despite the concerns the President raised, the governors were determined to ensure that nothing stops the convention.