6,800 delegates to attend APC convention

No fewer than 6,800 delegates are expected to participate in the national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) billed to hold on June 23, 2018.

The secretary of the convention committee, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, disclosed this to reporters in Abuja yesterday, adding that all hands are on deck to ensure the smooth conduct of the exercise.

Ndoma-Egba, who also faulted media report that the convention might be shifted by one week as a result of paucity of funds, expressed the hope that the top echelon of the party would resolve lingering disputes that arose as a result of the recently-concluded congresses in some of the 36 states of the federation.

He said: “It is not correct. The convention is holding on June 23, 2018 as planned. Nothing has happened to suggest the contrary. So, I can say categorically that convention is going ahead.

“We are expecting about 6,800 delegates. Of course, you know that we will have observers, vendors, the media and entertainers.

In all, you should expect about 8,000 people.

“We are hoping to resolve those issues before the convention, especially in states where we have court processes.

We are working to resolve them in one way or the other. This is politics and at the end of the day, you must leave a window open for harmonisation and reconciliation.”

Meanwhile, the screening appeal sub-committee of the national convention has begun sitting, calling on all aggrieved aspirants to submit petitions in respect of the just-concluded screening exercise.

However, in a guideline obtained yesterday in Abuja, the screening appeal committee, headed by the Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, has started receiving petitions with respect to the screening exercise.

According to the guidelines, aggrieved aspirants are expected to submit petitions alongside evidence to back up their claims at the Imo State governor’s lodge in Abuja, venue of the exercise, not later than noon on Saturday, June 16, 2018.