The conflicts ravaging the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is drawing the party to the depth of uncertainties in the build up to the 2019 general elections. The defection threat of the Reformed APC has been giving President Muhammadu Buhari and members of the CPC legacy party faction serious headache.
National Daily investigation revealed that President Buhari, CPC members and other segments of the Buhari team in the party were shocked by the resistance of R-APC leaders to juicy offers which include automatic ticket, appointments, alleged oil bloc allocations being made by the President. The Buhari team had thought that such tempting offers would have done the job for them in forestalling the defection of the R-APC.
National Daily findings indicate that President Buhari and his inner caucus are working out a new formula for consideration. They are weighing the political capital of the APC national chairman, Adam Oshiomhole, and the political assets of members of the R-APC in the conflicts; considering what they stand to lose or gain from accepting one and abandoning the other.
President Buhari had previously sacrificed former APC national chairman, chief john Odigie-Oyegun at the APC National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja in a political calculation many believed was aimed at appeasing APC national leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu. The President had at an earlier NEC meeting endorsed the extension of the tenure of Oyegun and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) after consultations with APC governors and State Chairmen across the 36 states of the Federation to reach that resolution. There was bickering from Tinubu that the tenure elongation does not comply with the rule of law and provisions of APC constitution, admonishing that several APC members are already in courts challenging the decision and other controversial issues in the party.
One month later, President Buhari reversed that decision, acknowledging that it does not comply with the rule of law. The tenure elongation of the Oyegun-led NWC was cancelled and the party commenced plans for a national convention to elect new NWC members. Oyegun, was accordingly, sacrificed in exchange of renewed fraternity with Tinubu.
At the weekend, Buhari and the CPC group were said to be considering the political risk of losing the mass R-APC members and what they brought to the party or losing Oshiomhole who was sponsored by Tinubu for the national chairman.
The R-APC was considered to command huge votes in the North in addition to the votes their allies from the South control. The pressure from the CPC faction was said to be on president Buhari to intensify ways to stop R-APC from defection, even if it means removing Oshiomhole as APC national chairman as being demanded by the R-APC leaders who have gone to court to seek Oshiomhole’s removal.
A party source revealed to National Daily that Oshiomhole got hint of the plot, which compelled him to rush to the residence of Buba Galadima, R-APC national chairman at the weekend for urgent appeal to save his job.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that the meeting will continue this week and that the final resolution will soon been made public.