As a follow-up on a meeting held on Monday 14^th November, 2016, the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some of the party’s leaders in the National Assembly are billed to meet again today, Thursday at the State House, Abuja.

According to CEOAfrica’s source, Thisday, the meeting is meant to revisit the pending appointments into boards of parastatals as well as the list of the non-career ambassadors earlier thrown out by the Senate. The governors and the National Assembly leadership from the APC are said to be insistent on the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to open up his government and hold wider consultations with stakeholders in the party before making appointments, particularly to political positions.

The source revealed that the sole issue tabled on Monday’s meeting was the need for a more inclusive government at the federal level. Today’s meeting will also be solely on this issue. “I can tell you categorically that the meeting has nothing to do with the loan being sought by the federal government or any other matter at that. It is basically about the appointments into the boards and parastatals and the governors are not taking chances this time,” he said.

According to the source, it is clear to the federal government that those handling these assignments on its behalf before had created more problems than solution and so, the idea of bringing everyone together to decide the fate of the party has become imperative in the light of the ugly challenges that stare the party and government in the face.

Osinbajo, on Monday, had met with Senate President Bukola Saraki, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and five governors of the APC behind closed doors at the State House, Abuja, to resolve the rising discontent among APC governors and other stakeholders over the failure of the president to consult critical stakeholders, including governors and the party leadership in the appointments he had made so far.

The Governors who attended the meeting were Senator Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, Sanni Bello of Niger State, and Jibril Bindow of Adamawa. Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola arrived after the meeting had been concluded. Also in attendance were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David, and the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

Although there was no official statement from the presidency on the almost two-hour meeting, our source gathered that Buhari, who departed the country for Morocco the night before, had mandated Osinbajo to meet with the National Assembly leadership and the governors to allay concerns and hold talks with them, after mounting complaints that they had not been carried along on several of the federal appointments previously made by the president.

Sources hinted that the meeting essentially involved the governors representing the five geopolitical zones in the country and that Osinbajo had been mandated by Buhari to broaden the scope of consultations by bringing in the governors and National Assembly leaders, who had been feeling disenchanted since the outset of the administration.

However, since the APC has no governor in the South-south zone, there was no governor to represent the zone at the meeting. But today’s meeting might be attended by the new Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who assumed office on Saturday to represent the South-south.