The ruling All
Progressive Congress, APC, is not in its best of mood as major forces
within the party have split the party into three major factions ahead of
the 2019 general election.
According to a report by New Telegraph,
the APC has split into Bola Tinubu camp, the ‘Abuja group’, and the
Muhammadu Buhari loyalists. There is an intense battle for the soul of
the party and it appears as if the Buhari camp is gaining a surprise
upper hand.
The President Muhammadu Buhari group, to
everyone’s surprise has former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Senate
President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara and some state governors.
Members of the Tinubu camp are Chief Bisi Akande, ex-Interim national chairman of the APC and a few APC governors.
The ‘Abuja group’ has Kaduna governor Nasir el-Rufai, Babatunde Fashola, Rotimi Amaechi, and some other ministers as members.
It is speculated that the Abuja El-Rufai
group has two goals –2019 elections and to take over the structures of
the party in the South- West.
Governor El-Rufai, is reportedly working
with governor Ibikunle Amosun-led South-West block to take control of
the party structures edging out Bola Tinubu.
According to the report, the Tinubu- Bisi Akande camp is working on how to hold onto the South- West front
The Ondo state governorship primaries of
the party exposed the hidden crack in the party as the Abuja group
purportedly worked against Tinubu and ensured that their preferred
aspirant, Rotimi Akeredolu, emerged as the party’s candidate in the
November 20 poll.
The same force that played out at the
Ondo state primaries also fought Tinubu’s choice, James Faleke, as
replacement for the late Abubakar Audu, who died before the final
announcement of the Kogi State governorship election result. The Abuja
group, with Buhari’s loyalists, influenced the choice of Yahaya Bello as
late Audu’s replacement for the supplementary election.
Also, Tinubu and Amosun fell apart
during the constitution of the Buhari cabinet over who takes the Ogun
State slot. While Tinubu recommended his former finance commissioner,
Wale Edun, Amosun opted for his finance commissioner, Kemi Adeosun who
emerged minister of finance.
The relationship didn’t get any better
when Tinubu facilitated the return of former governor of Ogun state,
Aremo Olusegun Osoba, back to the APC with Amosun considering it a plot
to fight him. Again, the governorship ambition of Senator Solomon Adeola
representing Lagos West in 2019 has further ruptured their
relationship.
While Amosu is leading the front in
South-West, Rotimi Amaechi is coordinating the South-South axis of the
Abuja group while el- Rufai is working with some northern governors to
rally the north for the APC ahead of 2019.
“What exactly is Tinubu’s sin, no one
has been told. How can someone who played a part in the electoral
victories of APC at virtually all levels suddenly become a threat?” an
associate of Tinubu asked. “We know that there are forces within the
party trying hard to weaken Tinubu’s support base in the party. The
party primaries in Ondo State was just one of the battles against us.
The whole process was manipulated in such a way that Tinubu’s candidate
did not emerge.
“They succeeded in Kogi. Now in Ondo,
they seem to be having their way. But wait. Who loses in the long run?
It’s the party. Not Tinubu. “In spite of our sacrifices for the party,
some forces are pushing hard to turn us to onlookers in the party. Well,
we are watching how events unfold. The only thing is that we were
instrumental to the emergence of this government and we won’t abandon
the ship,” a loyalist of Tinubu was quoted by New Telegraph.
0 comments:
Post a Comment