Aminu Bello Masari,the Chairman of the National Convention Central Coordination Committee has reaffirmed the All Progressives Congress (APC’s) commitment to zoning.
Masari further warned that aspirants contesting outside their designated zones risk being viewed as agents of disruption.
He made the remarks on Thursday at the party’s convention stakeholders’ meeting held at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja.
Masari said that the APC, as a “responsible party,” has strictly adhered to the federal character principle in distributing party offices across geopolitical zones, stressing that the zoning arrangement remains central to maintaining order and fairness within the party.
According to him, “In line with federal character, all offices are zoned. If you purchase a form, it must be for the position zoned to your region. If zoning places a position in one zone and you come from another to contest, we can only suspect that such a move is intended to create confusion.”
He added that the party would not tolerate actions capable of destabilising its internal structure, noting that the National Working Committee (NWC) positions are equitably distributed along zonal lines.
He said, “If you are contesting for an office not zoned to your area, how can you claim to be democratic? Such individuals may be acting as agents to undermine the party, and that is unacceptable—not just to APC, but to Nigerians at large.”
Speaking on legal challenges to the convention, the Chairman said the party had not been formally served with any court processes.
“We are not aware of anyone going to court. If we are served, we will respond appropriately. You cannot lay claim to what does not belong to you,” he added.
Adding his voice, the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, disclosed that a total of 8,453 delegates are expected to attend the convention from across the 36 states of the federation.
Idris said preparations were ongoing, including finalising the convention budget, which he described as flexible and self-adjusting.
He said, “We are still working on the budget. It has an adjustment mechanism to accommodate emerging needs. At the end of the process, we will make the details public.”
Idris assured that all financial obligations related to the convention were being met.
“I want to assure you that nobody is being owed in the course of organising this convention, and we do not intend to owe anyone after it,” he added.
On the concerns about road safety and infrastructure for delegates travelling to Abuja, he said there had been no reported incidents so far and expressed optimism that the exercise would proceed without disruptions.
“Our delegates have travelled from various parts of the country, and we have not recorded any incidents. By God’s grace, we will not record any throughout the convention and beyond,” he said.
He further reiterated the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to improving infrastructure nationwide.
