John Alechenu, John Ameh and Eniola Akinkuotu
Cracks among key political office
holders and leaders in the All Progressives Congress are threatening the
unity of the party, which is in control of the Federal Government, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.
Investigations indicated that between
President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu, for instance, there is a “cold war” over key decisions
taken by the former.
“There have been cases of appointments
into offices, which have generated tension between the President and
Tinubu. That is just one angle to the issues,” a top member of the party
in the National Assembly confided in Sunday PUNCH in Abuja.
The other angle, the source said, was an attempt to sideline Tinubu because he held no official position in the party.
“During most decision-making meetings of
the party, key officials often point out that he (Tinubu) cannot
influence decisions on the grounds of being the national leader because
there is no such office in the APC constitution.
“For example, while political office
holders like the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Mr.
President, National Assembly members, governors, among others may have a
say in decision-making, the office of national leader has no much
powers,” the source added.
SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that this
was also why the choice of who would occupy the position of Chairman of
the Board Trustees of the party had become a contest between former
Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Tinubu.
“It had been initially agreed that
Abubakar should become the BOT chairman. But, since the other leaders
are now saying that the position of national leader is unconstitutional,
Tinubu wants to revert to the position of BOT chairman.
“That way, he will become a major
decision– maker in the affairs of the party and the Federal Government
as presently constituted,” the official stated.
The source described the recent
criticism of President Buhari and the APC-led Federal Government by
Tinubu’s wife, Remi, and his daughter, as “signs” of the alleged cold
war between the President and the national leader of his party.
Findings also showed that a group in the
party had been pushing for the exit of Odigie-Oyegun as the national
chairman, “owing to his not too impressive role in the election of the
presiding officers of the National Assembly, particularly the President
of the Senate, Bukola Saraki.”
However, another faction backing
Odigie-Oyegun was said to have held the view that he should be allowed
to stay on till the party would have conducted its national convention
and filled the vacant positions in the APC.
SUNDAY PUNCH further learnt
that while Buhari had been cautious in relating with Saraki, he was
“normally at home with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr.
Yakubu Dogara, whom he sees as an “ally” at the National Assembly.
However, a reliable source within
Tinubu’s camp told one of our correspondents that the former governor
and Buhari were back together.
He said the problem with the APC was
that the presidency had distanced itself from the party and had thus
lost touch with the change agenda.
The source added that there was a
growing consensus that once the party had a new chairman and a new
publicity secretary, things would change.
He said, “We are of the view that unless
the party leadership is changed, the change agenda will fail. The new
agenda is to make sure that the President and the party are on the same
page. There is no presidency that can survive if it divorces itself from
the party.
“The presidency’s action is also
justified because we have a party leadership that is just not there. It
is not focused, disciplined or pushing any agenda and so the presidency
has ignored the party but the two must work together.”
He revealed that all party leaders will meet in Abuja on Tuesday where major decisions would be taken regarding the way forward.
He added, “Unlike three months ago when
nobody cared, everyone now cares and has decided to work together and
ensure that the party is structured. I don’t know how the restructuring
will take place but we will change the party chairman and find a
replacement for Lai Mohammed.
“Once we can get this right, things will
change and that is why we are having a caucus meeting on Tuesday which
all party leaders for the first time have agreed to attend.”
Attempts to get a reaction from the
National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, were
unsuccessful. Calls to his mobile phone were neither picked nor
returned.
A response to a text message sent to him on the subject was being awaited as of the time of filing this report.
A similar call made to the party’s
Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Timi Frank was picked by an aide
who said, “I will tell him you called.”
A response to a similar text message sent to him was still being awaited as of the time of filing this report. 7:00pm.
Similar attempts to get an official reaction from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar were equally unsuccessful.
A call to the Director General of the
Atiku Media Office, Mazi Paul Ibe, indicated that his phone was switched
off. A response to a text message sent to him was also being awaited as
of the time of filing this report.
Punch
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