Contrary to the stand of five former governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) that they are automatic leaders of the opposition party in their states, the APC leadership has said it has not ceded the offices to them.

The clarification came as top leaders of the APC, who championed its emergence from the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Democratic People's Party (DPP), have continued to reject the governors as their leaders, describing them as "strangers in the APC fold".

The APC leadership has also hinted that the party will hold its first national convention to elect its national officers in March while the local government and state congresses will precede it in February.

In an interview with LEADERSHIP Sunday, APC interim national spokesman Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the party did not give the leadership mantle to any of the defected governors and urged APC chieftains in the affected states to sheathe their swords in the overall interest of the party.

"We have not asked the new PDP governors to take over the leadership of the party in their states. Nobody has said that. What we agreed on was that all the new PDP governors should be given the same privileges being enjoyed by the APC governors, which is just to be given the opportunity to appoint representatives for the interim committees of the party. Those who are claiming that do not get it right," Mohammed said.

"The defection of the new PDP governors to the party should make us happy because they made us stronger in the states where they come from. Their coming has positive and negative sides: the positive is that we are stronger in their states while the negative side is that those who have been in charge of the party are feeling threatened with their ambition for one post or the other."

He added: "There is a need to manage the ego and interest of those who are angry and feel threatened that their ambition might not being realised; but they should all forget about their ambition and work harmoniously with the former PDP governors. They should learn from our leaders who sacrificed their personal ambition for the merger to become a reality."

The defection of governors Rabi'u Kwankwaso of Kano State, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto, Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) has caused disaffection among stakeholders in the states. The only exceptions are Kwara and Rivers states where there is no discord among the members.

In Adamawa State, retired Brig-Gen. Buba Marwa and Governor Nyako are fighting for the soul of the APC, while in Kano State Governor Kwankwaso is at loggerheads with his predecessor in office, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau.

The same goes for Sokoto State where Governor Wamakko and former governor of the state Attahiru Bafarawa are into a supremacy contest.

At the centre of the dispute is the condition given to the defected governors that they would enjoy the same privileges and rights given to the APC governors in their states.

To the defected governors, this means that they are the leaders of the party in their states, but this has been rejected by the founding fathers of the APC in the affected states.

Although APC national leaders has set up machinery to address the logjam, the crisis is far from over, thereby making political analysts suggest that the party should learn from the PDP which zoned its offices to take care of various interest groups in the party.

"The zoning of positions and elective offices within the PDP was adopted purposely to take care of every interest group that made up the party in 1998 shortly before and after the Jos convention, and this was why the party still stays by the zoning arrangement; and it was the death of President Umaru Yar'Adua and the assumption of office by then vice president Dr Goodluck Jonathan as president that led to the crisis rocking the party till date," a serving senator said.

But Mohammed urged those who are unhappy with the pact APC struck with the defected governors to put the interest of the party and the country first in their grievances if they wanted an end to the poor governance of the PDP.

He stated that the former PDP governors came to the APC at the right time, adding: "Our registration would start in February and they with their supporters would be given the same opportunity to register and participate in the congresses coming up in the same month and in the national convention holding in March."

Mohammed accused the PDP of orchestrating the crisis in the affected states, but expressed optimism that the commission set up by the party would resolve all the conflicts before the congresses.

He also allayed fears of domination in the convention and the primaries which would follow, declaring that there would be no zoning as every member would be free to contest in the open primaries for each office.

"By the grace of God, all the conflicts would be resolved before the congresses in February and the convention in March. To achieve this, the party has set up a high-powered committee to smoothen all the rough edges and this would be done shortly before the registration scheduled for this month. Our congresses would be in February and, by March, we would have the convention.

"There is no zoning in our constitution. We would be guided by our constitution. We have been hearing a lot of rumours and speculations that are not true.

All our officers and candidates for all election will emerge through a transparent process. Nigerians are interested in how our presidential candidate will emerge. We won't disappoint them," Mohammed said