Defectors into the All Progressives Congress will no longer be required to spend at least 30 days in the party before contesting elections on its platform, if the party's national convention ratifies constitution amendments due to be unveiled on Wednesday.

The National Executive Committee has already approved a proposal to lift hurdles which defectors face ahead of primaries holding next month, senior party officials told Daily Trust in Abuja yesterday.

An 'extraordinary' national convention, scheduled to hold in Abuja, is expected to endorse this and other decisions of the NEC, the officials said, asking not to be named.

Article 31 of the APC Constitution (As Amended) requires a person seeking nomination to contest for elections to have become a "registered member at least 30 days prior to the date" for the primaries.

This clause is not subject to any waiver, as it is a pre-requisite set out for the National Working Committee for granting waivers on other conditions.

Daily Trust learnt that party leaders are concerned that this could block some strategic politicians from joining the APC, given that all but one of its primaries are scheduled to hold within the next 30 days. The presidential nomination, which will be the last to hold, is just 36 days away.

An official told Daily Trust yesterday that a decision to delete this requirement was taken by NEC in order to open the party's doors to potential defectors, especially from the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

He said the NEC took this decision along with others during a meeting in Abuja on Friday. The national convention would have to ratify the NEC recommendations before they take effect.

By this, APC is obviously targeting likely PDP defectors including House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, who is yet to formally join the party despite months of romancing with it.

Just last week, the Sokoto APC stakeholders zoned the state governorship slot to the southern zone, where Tambuwal hails from, at a meeting he attended. He is believed to be angling for the governor's seat in the event the APC presidential ticket eludes him.

Daily Trust learnt that the party is also looking to benefitting from post-primaries squabble in the PDP, such that aggrieved politicians could be handed over APC tickets with no constitutional hindrances so long as they are capable of winning elections.

Another key proposal for the convention's ratification is the modality of nominations, especially the presidential primaries scheduled to hold on December 2.

At present, the existing guidelines approved on August 21 set out a process for 'modified direct primaries' in which about 300,000 delegates are expected to participate in selecting a presidential candidate.

Party officials told Daily Trust that NEC has approved a change to 'indirect primaries' with about 6000 delegates for the presidential primaries. This will be presented to the convention for ratification on Wednesday.

If the proposal is ratified, the number of delegates for governorship and other primaries will also be drastically reduced.

Sources said APC leadership decided to abandon the 'modified direct primaries' because of the difficulties it poses to the smooth conduct of the primaries, and also because the party’s constitution provides for either 'direct' or 'indirect' primaries.

"The 'modified direct primaries' is a cumbersome process that we cannot afford to do because of logistics," an official said. But he added that most of party members at the grassroots prefer 'direct' or 'modified direct' primaries.

"The fear is that under the 'indirect' primaries where few delegates will be brought to Abuja or the state capital as the case may be, they may be easily hijacked by money bags," he said.

In the 'modified direct' presidential primaries, Kano State alone is to produce about 7000 delegates, comprising 12 from each of the 485 wards, 26 from the 44 local government areas and another 200 which include all elected office holders in the party.

However, if the indirect primaries are ratified by the convention, about 6000 delegates from all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory will converge on Abuja on December 2 to choose the presidential candidate.

Daily Trust gathered that this will comprise 8 delegates from each of the 774 local government areas, state and national party officials, as well as all political office holders.

The APC national secretariat yesterday confirmed the national convention will hold on Wednesday to approve amendments to the constitution and adopt a manifesto for the 2015 elections. But the party did not give details of the constitution amendments to be approved.

In a statement in Lagos, APC national publicity secretary Lai Mohammed said the proposed amendments will align the party's constitution better with the Electoral Act and also allow it to function more efficiently. He said the convention would adopt a six-point manifesto covering broad priority areas namely, "National Security, Good Governance, Human Capital Development, Economic Development, Land and Natural Resources as well as Foreign Policy. The issue of job creation, fight against corruption, infrastructural development, health, qualitative education, regular power supply, etc are subsumed under these broad priority areas."