President Muhammadu Buhari has issued a warning to leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) against “name-calling and distractions” as the party prepares for its national convention.

Buhari’s warning was contained in a statement issued on Saturday by Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman.

Over the past days, governors and other stakeholders in APC have engaged in back-and-forth criticism over the arrangements for the party’s national convention scheduled to hold on March 26.

Amid the controversy over the zoning of national offices also came the change in leadership of the APC national caretaker committee, with Abubakar Sani Bello, governor of Niger, now in charge of the party’s affairs, while Mai Mala Buni, chair of the committee, is said to be away on a medical trip.

Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo, had claimed that some of his colleagues were working against the convention, and described them as “Yahoo Yahoo” governors.

In the statement, Buhari criticised the “infighting” in the party, and warned that distractions of any sort in relation to the convention must stop.

“Yes, we are entitled to our own share of dissent and intra-party discord. These are common in all parties, left and right all over the world. But parties splintered by competing egos destine themselves to the worst possible fate,” he was quoted as saying.

“As the country prepares for the long run up to the 2023 presidential election, we all expect a robust debate on the issues that matter and what is going in the APC should be a reflection of this, not the infighting we are seeing.

“There must be no more distractions ahead of the convention to choose new leaders.”

The Cable