National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and former interim leader, Chief Bisi Akande, were absent at the party’s national caucus meeting held on Monday.
No official reason was known to be given for their absence.
President Muhammadu Buhari hosted the meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, ahead of the National Executive Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday.
Unlike Tinubu and Akande, present at the occasion were Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
Also present were APC’s current and past state governors, members of the National Assembly, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha and ministers.
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It would be recalled that the APC national caucus held a similar meeting last month where members resolved to extend the tenure of the national and state officials.
Tinubu was reported to have opposed the tenure elongation, but the National Executive Committee ruled otherwise.
Meanwhile, the national chairman of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun, has said that the Monday meeting discussed the report of its committee on true federalism.
The national chairman who spoke with State House correspondents debunked the suspicion that the court case instituted against him by some aggrieved members of the party over tenure elongation was the reason for the meeting.
His words: “The meeting concluded the agenda we started the last time we met which we did not complete.
“Today we discussed true federalism, something a lot more serious, a lot more serious.’’
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, described the meeting as a mere routine to set the agenda for the NEC meeting.
“All I can tell you is that there is a meeting which is routine and the caucus meeting is determined to set up an agenda of the NEC meeting. And all I can tell you is that the agenda is well set,” he said.
The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, said, “We deliberated a number of issues to do with the constitution of the party which are very important issues, and to prepare for NEC. It was a good meeting.”
