Abubakar Sani Bello, governor of Niger state and acting national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has called for a national executive committee (NEC) meeting of the party.

The development comes after indications that Mai Mala Buni, the now ousted chairman of the party, did not want the convention to take place because he wanted to remain in charge of the party.

TheCable had reported how Buni planned to scuttle the party’s elective convention and remain chairman.

This revelation prompted the removal of Buni.

Speaking with journalists at the APC national secretariat in Abuja on Monday, Bello said he had been acting as the party’s chairman “for a while”.

The newspaper said the Niger governor called for the NEC meeting in a move to salvage the party and ensure that the convention scheduled for March 26 is held.

“NEC would hold any time after the seven days notice. The minimum notice for NEC is seven days and after that, NEC can hold,” a source was quoted as saying.

“There is only one item on the agenda for NEC to deal with and it is the convention.”

Another move taken by the Niger governor is to prune down the number of people on the sub-committees for the convention.

Bello was quoted as saying the party needs about 200 people to ensure that the convention is hitch-free.

“We had 1,700 people in committees and so, he said they should go and prune down the list and also make sure it covers everybody’s interest,” the source was quoted as saying.

“So, it was more about his reluctance to do what was expected of him. There appeared to be a reluctance to hold the convention.”