The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Convention Central Coordination Committee has assigned the party’s national offices to all six geopolitical zones in accordance with federal character principles.

The committee chairman, Bello Masari, who said this on Thursday at a news conference in Abuja, said strict adherence to the party’s zoning formula would prevent disgruntled elements from creating confusion in the party.

“APC is a responsible party, and it is a Nigerian party. In line with the federal character, all offices are zoned,” he said.

Mr Masari, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, expressed the party’s readiness to organise a befitting convention scheduled for March 27 and 28 in Abuja.

According to Mr Masari, the party operates under a federal character system, in which all offices are assigned to specific geopolitical zones.

He dismissed allegations that some aspirants vying for elective offices in the party were denied access to the forms, describing such moves as calculated attempts to create confusion.

“When an office is zoned to ‘A’, and you are in ‘Z’ and want to buy that form, we suspect you only want to create confusion.

“Like the way our country is, the structures of the party are on a zonal basis, and the working committee members are also distributed according to the zones.

“We suspect these kinds of people as agents who want to come and destabilise our party, which we will not agree to. I don’t think any responsible party in Nigeria will agree,” Mr Masari said.

The committee chairman also said the party was not aware that any aggrieved aspirants had gone to court, adding that the party had not been served any court processes regarding their complaints.

“We are not aware that anyone has gone to court; we have not been served. I am sure we are a responsible party. If we are served, we will take note of that,” he added.

Mr Masari said the party was ready to set the pace for a more durable democratic process in Nigeria and the African continent.

“We are the leaders, and we are going to set the pace for a more durable, reliable, dependable, democratic process in Nigeria.

“I am sure that the outcome of what we are going to do on Friday and Saturday will justify and also affirm what I have said,” Mr Masari said.

He said that, so far, the committee was satisfied with the preparations and processes for the convention, which began about two months ago with the wards, local government, and state congresses.

“The central coordinating committee started its work about three weeks ago. We started with 25 subcommittees covering all areas.

“We are so far satisfied with all that has been done. And to assure Nigerians and even those outside Nigeria that APC is very ready for the convention of 2026 that will start in the early hours of tomorrow,” he said.

(NAN)