Dame Patience To Quit As President Of African First Ladies, Following Jonathan’s Defeat

by Zenith Oduah

Mrs Patience Jonathan has called for an emergency meeting of the African Ladies Peace Mission where she has served as President since July 2012.

Mrs Jonathan was elected President of the group in July 2012 and was expected to do two year term but with the exit of her husband from office, she will have to handover as President to someone else.

In the letter, she wrote, “Your Excellency may recall that Nigeria was re-elected President of the AFLPM at the 7th Summit in Abuja in July 2012.

“With the recent election in my country and a new government coming on board from May 29, 2015, it has become necessary to convene an emergency summit of the AFLPM to facilitate a smooth and formal hand over to the new Executive Committee that will pilot the affairs of the Peace Mission for the next two years.

She added that, “The Emergency Summit is proposed for Friday, May 15, 2015 at the Interim Secretariat of the African First Ladies Peace Mission, Abuja by 2pm.

The Summit will, however, be preceded by the 4th meeting of the Executive Bureau by 9am, on May 15 at the same venue.

According to the letter, “The Bureau Meeting is for members of the Executive Bureau, comprising South Africa, Sudan, Cameroon, Libya and Congo Brazzaville. In the light of the above, may I appeal to Your Excellency to give utmost consideration to attending the Emergency Summit in order to ensure that our organisation maintains its current momentum. We will deeply appreciate your kind early response to help us in planning the Summit, in view of limited time available to us.”