The northern political establishment
working for the consolidation of the presidency of General Muhammadu
Buhari is set for a major alliance with the South East political class
in a shift aimed at tackling the collapse of the North/South West
alliance that brought him to power.
As a direct response to this
development, a rally in support of the APC National Leader, Senator Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, holds in Lagos today, even as one of the organisers
described the event as a “show of force” to send a message to the All
Progressives Congress, APC, leadership about where the South West caucus
of the party stands.
Incidentally, the third force agenda
appears to be gaining ground also even outside APC as some leaders of
the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, met in Abuja, on Tuesday, to design
clear ways by which an alliance can be struck with proponents of the
Third Force.
Leaders of the PDP in the legislature
and some key members of the party’s National Caretaker Committee were
spotted at the meeting held in Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
Sources told Saturday Tribune
in Abuja that the pro-Buhari elements are working on the notion that the
alliance with the South West has already collapsed and that the
relationship with Senator Bola Tinubu, the perceived arrowhead of the
political force in the zone and his political machinery cannot be
revived.
The South West link
It was gathered that, to fill the void,
the Buharists are already raising young elements in the South West, not
only to replace Tinubu but also to essentially reduce the bloc votes
from the zone and cut a piece for the Buhari camp in 2019.
Sources also told Saturday Tribune
that, in line with that decision to look beyond the Tinubu camp, the
Buhari loyalists are putting in place an arrangement with the South
East.
It was learnt that a former presiding
officer in the National Assembly is fast-tracking the relationship that
would ensure that the South East replaces the South West in the
political arrangement ahead of the 2019 elections.
The recent appointment of former Senate
President Ken Nnamani, as the chairman of the constitution and Electoral
Reform Committee by the president is also believed to be in furtherance
of the new friendship between political leaders in the zone and certain
northern leaders.
Also, during the week, President Buhari
met senators from the South East, led by Deputy Senate President Ike
Ekeweremadu, for several hours in the Villa where the senators
reportedly told him the grievances in their zone against the North and
his presidency.
It was gathered that going forward into
2019, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, section of the ruling
All Progressives Congress, APC, would firm up its hold on the party
against other power blocs.
“The plot is very simple and direct”,
said a source who confirmed that the push is to ensure a conciliatory
relationship between the Buhari camp and the South East, once the
leaders of the South East are able to eke out some promises from the
president, which would become the selling points for him in the zone
ahead of the next election.
“But a major aspect of the deal is the
push that could see the South East producing a key member of the next
government, using a former lawmaker who is seen as having played a major
democratic role in the past”, the source said.
It was learnt that the Buhari camp,
having written off the possibility of making up with Tinubu, has decided
to rest its hope of eking out something from the South West on
politicians who hold positions in the government.
The three politicians from the South
West who are said to be key to the planned incursion of the president to
the South West reportedly include Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun
State, former Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, who is the
serving Minister of Power, Works and Housing, and former Governor Kayode
Fayemi of Ekiti State who presently serves as the Minister of Solid
Minerals.
“We are aware of the political
maneuverings from some governors who are playing the card of unity in
the South West. Since the alliances they are working on won’t be able to
get the zone into a one-way traffic, the reliance on the trio to gain
some inroads in the South West is still valid. And that is where the
alliance with another zone that can produce bulk votes becomes
imperative”, another source said.
Obasanjo group
Sources also told Saturday Tribune
that though the camp of former President Olusegun Obasanjo appears to
be dissatisfied with the emerging trends in Abuja, it has so far decided
to play the ‘siddon look’ game, while keenly watching the games from
Abuja and Lagos.
The realignment of forces across
geo-political zones has heightened in recent weeks, following the
rapprochement between some political actors in the PDP and the APC, with
some governors openly flaunting the new found unity.
Osun State governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola
and his Ekit State counterpart, Mr Ayodele Fayose of the PDP, have not
been hiding their new-found friendship, even flaunting it in the media.
“The Obasanjo group regularly evaluates
the state of the nation and, particularly, developments in the ruling
party; members of the group, spread across the country, are watching
events. However, they are not part of the arrangement put together by
the South West faction led by Tinubu. The strategy of the Obasanjo camp
for now is to watch how the government continues to treat them in the
scheme of things”, a source close to the group told Saturday Tribune.
Indeed, the APC deputy national Chairman
and a former governor of Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni who is a leading
light in the Obasanjo camp, may have shed light on the position of the
camp in the ongoing alignment as he told Saturday Tribune in an
interview, two weeks ago, that anybody working on a new party is on his
or her own.
Oni, who said he was not aware of any
meeting bothering on alignment, had said: “But let me say that right
from day one, the losers in this scheme had always been talking of
alignment. Don’t forget, right from when we started, they didn’t even
wait for us to spend one year before they started talking of alignment.
“They didn’t even wait for us to spend
one year before they started talking of alignment. That is always the
mentality of losers. The losers would always look for a new thing; the
winner would always try to promote continuity psychologically.”
Interestingly, Fayose visited Oni in his Ifaki Ekiti home with both sides refusing to disclose why the two sworn enemies met.
Loyalty walk for Tinubu in Lagos
Meanwhile, a group, “I Stand with Bola
Tinubu,” has said hundreds of loyalists of Senator Tinubu, are set for a
loyalty walk in honour of the politician, who recently got involved in a
dispute with the national chairman of the party.
Speaking in an interview with Saturday Tribune,
Media Team Chairman of the group, Comrade Tijani Oluwadamilare, said
members of the group as well as other participants remained undaunted
and were rearing to go simply because of the faith and love they had for
the person of Tinubu.
Tijani pointed out that the group had
chosen to organise the loyalty walk to show solidarity and support for
Tinubu, and to send a message to everyone concerned that never again
would Yoruba people stand and watch any of their respected leaders being
ridiculed.
Tijani however further restated the
group’s earlier stance that the walk is neither a protest nor an attempt
to disparage the leadership of APC under any guise, but rather, to
“show unwavering honour and respect to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.”
He further noted that the walk would
take participants through different parts of Ikeja to the final
destination at the APC State Secretariat at ACME Road in Ogba area of
Ikeja, where a letter would be submitted to the leadership of the party.
“At the APC Secretariat at ACME Road, a
letter from the group which will,among other things, state our support
for Asiwaju, will be submitted to the leadership of the party,” he
noted.
Tijani debunked claims by another group
that the walk was being sponsored by the Lagos State government with
public fund, maintaining that rather, the group relied on money raised
from individuals who had been approached before the event.
“If indeed we are being sponsored with
public fund, would I be worried that less than 24 hours to the event,
many things that ought to have been put in place are still not in place?
As I am speaking with you, a lot of things are yet to be put in place
as a result of lack of adequate fund, but we remain undaunted,” he
stated.
It will be recalled that just a few
hours to the commencement of the walk, another group, the Save Lagos
Group, had raised the alarm that the walk was being sponsored by the
Lagos state government with public fund, while also giving the
indication that it would organise a counter walk of its own against the
Tinubu Loyalty Walk.
Alliance against South West will fail
Speaking with Saturday Tribune on
Friday, Comrade Amitolu Shittu, National Coordinator, Committee for
Democracy and Rights of the People, said whatever alliance or alignment
between the North and the South East against the South West would
collapse because, as he put it, most of the political players in the
North did not believe in righteousness.
He also said any attempt to rubbish the
South West in the alignment would collapse like a pack of cards, noting
that “whoever seeks to underestimate the Yoruba race would be doing so
at his or her detriment. If they think they can underestimate the Yoruba
race, they are joking.
“Yoruba elevated former President
Goodluck Jonathan to become the president but when he started behaving
funny, where did he end up? He saw the consequences. Those who ventured
into attempting to rubbish the Yoruba lost out completely. If anybody
now thinks in the same direction, they will also disgrace themselves at
the end of the day. No region can entirely be on its own without the
Yoruba. No region can dare it”.
Speaking further, Amitolu said the
ruling party in the country would collapse because “the present
leadership of the party is not honest at all. The APC leadership is
naïve to the extent of supporting charlatans to destroy their home.
“Those who made election easy for Buhari
in the South West in 2015 have been short-changed and the virus is
spreading fast. The problem of the North is that they don’t consider
national interest. Having lost power several years ago, they now see in
the Buhari administration an opportunity to come into reckoning. No
matter the marriage you have with them, such cannot last because they
don’t believe in righteousness.
“I am not speaking for anybody and I am
not in the Tinubu camp but the treatment meted out to Tinubu is very
embarrassing. When you were struggling for power, you were able to
mingle with them, but suddenly when you came to power, you discovered
that your friends are not good and you want to isolate yourself from
them. Why can’t you isolate yourself from them from the onset?’, he
asked.
Nigeria Tribune
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