President Muhammadu Buhari
The rift between National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC) Mr. Adams Oshiomhole and some influential governors of
the party, barely three months to a general election, is of serious
concern to President Muhammadu Buhari, Saturday Sun has learnt.
The feud, which has its root in the power struggle among the major
blocs within the party, deepened following the recent primary elections,
which degenerated to a face-off between Oshiomhole and the governors of
Ogun, Ibikunle Amosun; Imo, Rochas Okorocha; Ondo, Rotimi Akeredolu and
Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara over the choice of candidates for elective
positions in their respective states.
The President’s worry, especially the impact the worsening crisis
may have on the party’s chances in the coming elections has led to
series of meetings between the feuding parties and the president as well
as other stakeholders in the presidential villa in the last two weeks.
Things took a more worrisome dimension last weekend when the
Department of State Services (DSS) took Oshiomhole into custody on
Sunday and Monday for long hours of interrogation over allegations of
sabotage and financial inducements from candidates.
Saturday Sun also learnt that the party boss was being investigated
over alleged payments from a Northeast state governor, running for a
second term in office and a Southwest state governorship candidate who
allegedly parted with $2 million. It was not stated who the payments
were made to.
The weight of some of the allegations and the determination of the
security agency to press on with the investigation have put Oshiomhole
under pressure to resign from his position because of the damage the
outcome may eventually have on him and the party he leads. Though he
left the country midweek to allow things calm down, the indications
however show the contrary, as there appears to be more storms gathering
for him and waiting for his return.
Associates and supporters of the party chairman are already
pointing accusing fingers at Amosun, Okorocha, Akeredolu and Ekiti state
governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi as the brains behind his ordeal. The basis
of their accusation is that the four governors have virtually turned the
presidential villa to their home in the past two weeks in their attempt
to nail Oshiomhole.
One of the governors who spoke to Saturday Sun however countered the allegation. “No
doubt, we have been having meetings with the president but our visits
have nothing to do with Oshiomhole’s probe. We are only interested in
securing the president from some deadly traps because what is happening
now is of serious concern to the president. For instance, if we allow
them to undermine Amosun in Ogun, fine, Amosun may lose but the
president will also lose. This is their game plan. That was the same
mistake President Jonathan made and we are trying not to allow President
Buhari fall into the same trap”, the governor stated.
Also speaking with Saturday Sun on the same issue, Governor Fayemi dismissed the allegation against them as baseless. “We have nothing to do with his ordeal, nobody should link us to it please”, he stressed and pleaded to be left out of the conversation.
In another exclusive chat with the governor of Kebbi state, Atiku
Bagudu, he assured that concerted efforts were being put in place to
resolve the flaming issues.
His words, “As events in political democracy where you have
occasional misunderstandings and grievances, these are necessary
features of any democracy. Today, we are seeing midterm elections in the
US, for people who have been watching including myself over the past
few weeks, we have seen challenges that seem almost insurmountable but
here we are. In Nigeria also, we believe that the issues affecting the
primaries in all the states like the ones you mentioned would be
resolved. We believe that the national leadership of our party, and our
party leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, are engaging in a meaningful
way that will lead to a resolution.
“As to whether it will affect the party in the 2019 election,
we believe that our party is very very strong, we believe that the
president’s records are there for everyone to see. Like I said,
democracy is give and take. What we want is the kind of engagement that
is taking place, which we believe will lead to resolution.”
Also speaking exclusively with Plateau state governor, Simon Lalong, he said there is need for mutual respect in the party.
According to him, “The party has a mechanism for resolving
conflicts no matter how difficult. We started before, we had our
conflict whether on mode of elections and all that, we came here and
resolved it. So, in every party like the APC, we understand that there
will always be conflict. Politics is about conflict, it is about
different interests. So, we have our mechanism for resolving such
conflicts. I have told you that we have mechanisms for resolving
internal conflicts, we are working on the mechanism and I assure you
that at the end of the day, just wait and see whether we resolve it or
not.”
On who should control the party in the states, Governor Lalong
said, “there are two views because the same party is saying that they
want to take away the party from the governors because the governors
have hijacked the party. How do you hijack the party if you are not
funding it? These are conflicts within the party. In some cases they
will say the governors have hijacked the party because they have
overfunded the party and in another breath they will say the governors
are not funding the party.”
-Culled from Daily Sun
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