Politics

APC crisis: Adams Oshiomhole in a dilemma

Published

6 years ago

July 10, 2018

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The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is battling for survival following the decisions of some governors elected under its platforms to dump the party ahead of the 2019 general elections, National Daily has gathered.

While Adams Oshiomhole, the National Chairman of the party has dismissed dissidents within the party as non-consequential, National Daily gathered from sources that the party may suffer the fate that befell the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2015 general elections.

Sources told National Daily that Oshiomhole’s handling of the crisis will decide the fate of the party in the coming general elections. They argued that recent statement credited to him when the issue of R-APC came up would further divide the party, and alienate critical stakeholders.

He was quoted to have said that the APC leadership will rather ignore members of the Reformed-APC than be bothered by their action.

Oshiomhole who is just two-week-old in office, was rattled on Wednesday when some members of the party pulled out to form the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC), a parallel structure.

The group, which has all members of defunct nPDP and some APC members in its fold, is led by former National Secretary of defunct CPC, Alhaji Buba Galadima.

“We listened to Buba Galadima. It is as if a very hungry bird is dancing at the centre of the road and a disgruntled drummer not far away in the bush is drumming for him. But this is not to say that we are not aware that there are challenges here and there, but anything about APC is considered more, much more than the sum total of all the challenges we have in many of the states,” Oshiomhole was quoted to have said.

National Daily gathered that three governors elected on the party’s platform are on their way to the PDP.

As many as 30 senators and 70 members of the House of Representatives are expected to follow suit before the national assembly goes on recess in the next two weeks, National Daily also gathered.

Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto state, Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), and Samuel Ortom (Benue) are in the “first batch” of big guns expected to defect, an insider told National Daily.

Tambuwal is rumoured to harbour a presidential ambition while Ahmed, who is coming to the end of his second term in Kwara, is expected to run for the senate.

“Ortom, on his own part, has been guaranteed safe return to the PDP by Senator David Mark. He is considered the best bet in the circumstance as the incumbent governor, and he can leave the party to George Akume,” another insider, who attended some of the strategy sessions disclosed.

Senate President Bukola Saraki is also expected to return to the PDP and is reported to be nursing a presidential ambition — bolstered by the recent Supreme Court judgment which freed him of criminal charges over allegations of false asset declaration.