by Kolapo Olapoju

Patience Jonathan will be quitting as President of the African Ladies Peace Mission, two months early.

She was elected the mission’s President at its seventh summit held in Abuja in July 2012 and her tenure would have expired in July 2015 when a new president would have been elected.

However, she will no longer be the First Lady of Nigeria from May 29 when President Jonathan will hand over power to the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari.

Consequently, Mrs. Jonathan has reportedly summoned an emergency summit of the mission for May 15 for the purpose of electing her successor.

In some circles, it is believed that the move is to prevent the wife of the President-elect Hajiya Aisha Buhari the hosting rights of the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) in July, when a new President of the non-governmental organisation would have been elected.

According to reports, Dame Jonathan is particularly interested in holding the summit to oversee the election of the new president of the mission, which comprises of wives of Presidents of all African countries.

She has reportedly sent out an invitation to members of the mission, dated April 6, to seek their presence at the emergency meeting to meet transition exigencies.

The invitation partly read: “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.”

“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. 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.”