With the dust
raised over the Ondo governorship election yet to settle down, President
Muhammadu Buhari has dismissed the notion that he and the APC
leadership are at odds with a erstwhile national leader of the party,
Bola Tinubu, describing such rumours as unfounded and mischievous.
The president’s media aide, Garba Shehu,
in a statement on Monday, November 28, 2016 said the president was
highly embarrassed by such “suggestions”.
He also said Buhari was in regular contact with Tinubu before, during and after the Ondo gubernatorial election.
Shehu said any suggestions that the
president and the party machinery were working to destroy Tinubu had no
foundation in truth or any credibility, explaining that the president
was impressed by Tinubu’s assurance to the part not to work against APC
in Ondo and he honoured his pledge.
Shehu also explained that Buhari regards
Tinubu as a “priceless political asset” to the party whose immeasurable
contributions to the development and progress of the ruling party are
known to all.
He advised rumour mongers to stop
spreading the seeds of discord and animosity between the president and
Tinubu or the party, adding that the president was proud of the
“Jagaban” (Tinubu’s traditional title) and his pivotal role in the party
and the movement.
Buhari also commended Tinubu’s spirit of
comradeship by promptly congratulating Rotimi Akeredolu who was elected
governor in Ondo State last Saturday.
The president further noted that at a
time his administration was preoccupied with governance issues, rumours
of divisions and alleged scheming within the party were
counterproductive to internal unity and cohesion in APC.
Tinubu, who backed Dr. Olusegun Abraham
to secure the ticket of the APC to contest in the Ondo governorship
poll, had opposed the Rotimi Akeredolu’s emergence as candidate of the
APC, alleging irregularities during the party’s primary.
ThisDay in an exclusive story
on Sunday indicated that Akeredolu’s emergence had caused a major rift
in the party and among the South-west states critical to the president’s
re-election bid in 2019.
The rift was also evident when most of
the APC governors from the region, except Ogun State governor, Senator
Ibikunle Amosun, refused to turn up at the grand finale of the APC rally
for Akeredolu before the election.APC is Cash-strapped
Meanwhile, wore details came to light
yesterday as to why the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is
strapped for cash and is currently unable to offset several bills
incurred by the party.
The headquarters of the party was
recently disconnected from the power grid over non-payment of its
electricity bill to the Abuja Disco.
A reliable source at the APC’s national
secretariat, who spoke to journalists yesterday, blamed the poor state
of the ruling party’s finances on the non-payment of monthly dues by all
cadre of political appointees on its platform, including Buhari.
He explained that based on the decision
reached at the meeting of the party’s national leadership, it was agreed
that APC members in the National Assembly were to pay N100,000
(senators) and N70,000 for the House of Representative members.
Although the party source failed to
disclose the amount expected from Buhari and his deputy, Prof. Yemi
Osibanjo, he said most APC political office holders within this category
had not been forthcoming with their contributions due to the internal
crisis in the party.
He said the Senate President, Bukola
Saraki, and House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, had also stopped the mandatory
monthly payments since the party got engulfed in a crisis.
Similarly, the source said all political
appointees of the party, including Buhari, who is also the leader of
the party, had not paid their dues since they took office, contrary to
the party’s constitution.
Sources also revealed that some APC
governors, appointees of the president and many members of the National
Assembly loyal to a prominent leader of the party, have vowed not to
contribute a dime to fund the party until “there is a change in the
party’s leadership”.
However, a top member of the party confirmed to ThisDay that
only the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Mustapha Baba
Shauri, from Borno State has been able to pay N500,000.
Also, a few lawmakers were said to have paid for only three months since they were elected into office.
The source said: “It is only one
minister that has paid part of his dues. From the records, it is the
Minister of State for Works. However, based on the charter of the party,
ministers and senators are supposed to pay N100,000 each month.
“The party is in serious financial straits. We have not been able to settle loads of debts.
“It is even worse when the expenditure
profile averages N100 million per month. The party is struggling to meet
its overheads because some governors that should pick the bills have
refused to pay. The funds don’t come directly, but in the form of the
governors bankrolling the visits of the national officers during visits
to their states.
“It is so bad now that the party is even
struggling to meet its overheads. This is not even enough considering
the financial commitments of the national officers, who have aides,
logistics and even fuelling their official vehicles. It would have been
better if they have fixed allowances given to each of them.
“The financial problem of the party was
compounded following the decision of President Buhari not to sponsor the
party, in line with the transparency and anti-corruption disposition of
his administration.”
Buhari, it was also revealed, does not
want to replicate the mistakes of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
which openly used state resources to fund its activities when it was in
power.
“True to his word, nothing has come to
the party from the presidency since June 2015 when the party took over
power,” said the source.
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