The return of President Muhammadu Buhari last Friday, after 49 days of vacation in the United Kingdom, is widely believed to offset several activities, particularly, the political simulation to control power in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
National Daily had earlier reported that in the period the President was away overseas, some APC leaders were subtly manipulating party stakeholders in renewed power tussle to enthrone their influence in the decision of who gets what, when and how much from the party government.
It was revealed to National Daily that the increasing momentum of the subtle power tussle in the APC was becoming a serious threat to some principal officers in the Presidency, essentially, the allies of the President, culminating into the pressure to bring President Buhari home for a brief moment. These principal officers were said to be becoming uncomfortable with the magnitude of political simulation and the tendency of their becoming insignificant in the scheme of affairs in the party government and the APC political machine.
A reliable source disclosed that the statement credited to APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that he will contest for president, was perceived as a serious threat; one political project that can devastatingly alter the power equation of the party and the mainstream body politic.
The return of President Buhari wholesomely disproved the report of his death, penultimate week, and punctured the struggle for his immediate successor before the end of his tenure. Apparently, those who were plotting to placate the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, came to a sudden end of the road in their plots. Those also predicated their power calculus on the inability of the President to continue in office were left pulsating, still ruminating about the probability of any uncertainty.
Party source revealed to National Daily that some stakeholders in the APC still express skepticism about the capability of the President to continue the leadership of the country.
Thus, they were said not to have given up but rather keep monitoring events in the polity.
Apart from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar whose Presidential ambition had existed before Buhari became President, and has sustained his political overtures and mobilization independent of the interest of the incumbent President, every other political actor in the ruling party seems to have retreated from advancing his/her ambition for the exalted office.
This was, however, gathered to be temporary. Some party leaders were revealed to have uphold the belief that the uncertainty in the party is not yet over. They were said to be of the view that the admittance of being sick and notice by President Buhari that he may be proceeding on another medical vacation, show that uncertainty persist. They observed that the President’s presence may suspend the power struggle temporary.