The ruling All Progressives Congress APC has defended its governors over their absence at Thursday’s meeting of its Presidential Campaign Council at the State House in Abuja.

The party which was reacting to queries regarding the absence of the governors said it was not mandatory for the state chief executives to attend the meeting which it said was only meant to design a timetable and the central messages of the campaign.

According to the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the meeting was also not an inaugural one, saying the council had met at least three times since it was inaugurated on Monday by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The agenda for the meeting had to do with drawing the timetable and deciding on the messaging. It didn’t require everyone in the council to be present.

Meanwhile, this is not the inaugural meeting. After the inauguration on Monday, there have been not less than three meetings of the council”, said Issa-Onilu.

There were concerns Thursday afternoon about the absence of the governors, fuelling speculations that they could be bogged down by their own campaigns in their various states.

•Sourced from a Vanguard report

•Buhari, Tinubu, Ameachi at inaugural campaign council meeting of APC Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja on 10th Jan 2019