There was anxiety yesterday over
alleged plot to disrupt the June 23 National Convention of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) by some aggrieved leaders and members of the party.
One of the suspected brains behind
the plot is a Minister from the South-West who is alleged to have had a
midnight session with some party leaders from his state at the weekend in
Abuja.
The said leaders were first camped
in Gwagwalada Council Area but were later driven under the cover of darkness to
Abuja Municipal Council for further briefing.
Authoritative party sources said
yesterday that a massive plot was developing and urgent steps must be taken to
calm frayed nerves and stop the alleged plan to frustrate and divide the APC
during the convention.
Investigation showed that the plot
is being hatched mainly by party members who are aggrieved by the conduct of
the recent congresses; those who want to create a defection scene; those
opposed to the defection of certain leaders from PDP to APC; a few others who
are feeling marginalized by the government and the party leadership; and those
allegedly being used by the opposition party to infiltrate APC.
One of the sources said that
although the party leadership is looking forward to a hitch-free convention,
“some leaders and members are plotting to scuttle it either through a court
process or by creating a split in the party on June 23.”
“Those behind this plot have reneged
on the agreement to make ex-Governor Adams Oshiomhole as the sole candidate of
the party. They want to sponsor more candidates for the office of national
chairman of APC,” the source said.
He added: “while some are plotting
to defect from APC to another party on convention day, a few others want to
form a parallel party organ in order to cause confusion.
“We also got privileged information
of moves to supply placards to some APC members to embarrass top leaders of the
party.”
One of those suspected of plotting
to cause embarrassment is the Southwest minister.
The source said the minister “is
just out to join forces to embarrass top APC leaders on the convention ground.”
The source added: “we are however
being proactive to checkmate all these evil plans and have a stress-free
gathering.”
Contest for National Secretary
raises tempo
Sources identified the contest for
the position of the party’s national secretary as one of the most contentious
issues likely to face the party at the convention.
Northeast governors of the party are
said to be resisting moves by some forces who are encouraging a former National
Chairman of PDP, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff to produce the next national secretary
of the party.
Sheriff recently rejoined the party
after flirting with the PDP.
Four contenders have emerged for the
office of National Secretary of the party; the incumbent, Mallam Mai Mala Buni
(Yobe); a cerebral politician, Kashim Imam (Borno); Buhari’s ardent loyalist,
Waziri Bulama; and Dr. Haruna Yerima.
A Governors’ Forum source said:
“Sheriff is backing Kashim Imam (Borno) but Governor Ibrahim Gaidam is pleading
with his colleagues to retain the slot in Yobe since Borno State has cornered
many juicy appointments.
“So far, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, and I
think leaders from Gombe and Taraba have agreed that Yobe should produce the
party’s secretary. The governor of Bauchi State is being expected to tag along
with his colleagues.”
“Some strategists of the President,
party leaders and Sheriff prefer either Kashim Imam or Waziri Bulama from
Buhari Support Organization.
“Although the governors have been
extremely loyal to the President, they might not guarantee him success at the
poll in 2019 if the party’s secretariat is handed over to Sheriff.”
When contacted, a member of the
National Convention Committee said: “Some members of this committee have heard
of plans to disrupt the convention but we cannot authoritatively confirm it.
“All I can tell you is that the
Convention Committee will work round the clock to make it a successful one.”
Cracks in nPDP as leaders weigh
defection options
It was also gathered that the
leaders of the nPDP are no longer unanimous in their plan to dump the APC for
the PDP.
Some of leaders are currently
weighing options on whether to leave or not.
Sources said while some nPDP leaders
have made up their minds to leave, a few others are yet undecided.
“Some of our leaders have concluded
plans to leave APC for other parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP). But the time and the manner of exit are still being worked out,” one
source said.
“Some nPDP leaders have opted for a
fight-to-the-finish module in APC before quitting .Their plan is to make a mess
of APC and leave it in tatters before their defection. They do not want APC to
have its cake and eat it.”
Some of those likely to defect are
Senate President Bukola Saraki, House of Representatives Speaker
Yakubu Dogara, Senators and many House of Representatives members from Bauchi
State; Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah
Ahmed; ex-Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, ex-Adamawa State Governor
Murtala Nyako; Senator Barnabas Gemade and Senator Dino Melaye.
Some of those said to be
non-committal at the moment are ex- Zamfara State Governor Sani Ahmed
Yerima; ex-Gombe State Governor Danjuma Goje, ex-Sokoto State Governor Aliyu
Wammako; ex-Kebbi State Governor Adamu Aliero; ex-House of Reps Deputy Speaker
Bayero Nafada; among others.
Adamawa State Governor Jibrilla
Bindo; Senator Adamu Abdullahi; Senator Kabiru Gaya; Senator
Ovie Omo-Agege, all of whom belong to the nPDP are likely remain in APC.
A reliable source, who spoke in
confidence, said local peculiarities and some exigencies have compelled some
nPDP leaders to start weighing their options.
The source said:
“Although Dr. Saraki has not provided a beacon of where he is
headed in 2019 for his loyalists and followers, the dust raised by the Offa bank
robbery saga may have ended his stay in APC.
“Even if he wants to remain in APC,
his numerous supporters will not allow it. His most predictable destination
will be PDP but those in the opposition in Kwara State, led by ex-Minister of
National Planning, Prof. Abubakar Olanrewaju Suleiman might resist his
defection. In the alternative, the PDP elements will shift base to APC. The
party leadership has been asking Prof. Abubakar to put the interest of PDP
above his personal ambition to be governor of the state.”
Ex-Benue State Governor Gabriel
Suswam, who is a member of the PDP Contact and Mobilization Committee, is said
to have had informal talks with some PDP leaders in Kwara State who registered
their opposition to Saraki’s return to the party.
Continuing, the source said:
“as a politician with a strong and solid political base, the national
headquarters of PDP will, no doubt, ignore its present members in Kwara State
and hand over the party structure to Saraki wholesale.
“It will be a repeat of what PDP did
for Saraki in 2003 when ex-Governor Muhammed Lawal seized All Peoples Party
(APP) from the late strongman of Kwara Politics, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki.
“But Saraki may not leave APC
without a fight for the soul of the party he co-founded with other chieftains.
How it will play out will be determined by the coming convention.”
Speaker Yakubu Dogara is quoted as
saying repeatedly that he can “no longer cohabit” with the APC which has
sidelined him.
The source said: “With Dogara, three
Senators and most members of the House of Representatives and members of the
State House of Assembly, Bauchi State may witness massive defection than any
APC controlled state.
“The recent visit of President
Muhammadu Buhari to Bauchi State was a pointer that the governor has lost
considerable goodwill because the stadium complex (the venue of the reception)
was half-filled.”
On the situation in Gombe, the
source said: “As for Goje, his moving is going to demystify him
politically. He does not have the total control of the state and about 70 to 80
per cent of his supporters will not go with him. It is politically strategic
for him to remain in APC.
“The scenario was also strange for
Goje politically in 2015. Buhari got more votes in Gombe in 2011 when Goje was
a sitting PDP governor than in 2015 after the ex-Governor had crossed to APC.
“And Goje was the only APC Senator
who Buhari personally campaigned for in 2015 to win his senatorial ticket. He
virtually prevailed on Buhari to campaign for him in all the local government
areas in his district.
“The dynamics may have changed but
it will be suicidal for Goje to defect to PDP because he is going to meet his
match in Governor Hassan Dankwambo who is fully in control of his party’s
structure.
“Already, Dankwambo has a swap
alliance with ex-Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sen. Bayero
Nafada, who has fallen out with Goje. The alliance borders on the fact that
while Nafada will succeed Dankwambo in 2019, the governor will pick his senatorial
ticket if he is not elected as the presidential candidate of PDP.
“Nafada has also not defected
because he is unsure if Dankwambo will keep to their gentleman (unwritten)
agreement or not.”
Tambuwal targets PDP presidential
ticket
Governor Tambuwal is one of those
sure to return to the PDP, according to investigation, with his PDP
presidential ticket as his target.
He is said to have made it clear to
nPDP leaders that he will quit APC for PDP.
The source added: “It is an open
secret to Buhari and others in APC that Tambuwal is returning to PDP. This is
why he has been shut out of strategic issues in the party and in the
presidency. “Only on Friday, one of his loyalists, ex-Rep Isa Ashiru defected
in Kaduna from APC to PDP. This is the candidate that Tambuwal is backing to
defeat Governor Nasir el-Rufai in Kaduna State.
“His greatest challenge is the
readiness of loyalists of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan to stop him from being
the PDP flag bearer. Although Jonathan is forgiving, his lieutenants are ready
for a showdown with Tambuwal.”
A former minister said: “It can be
any candidate in PDP but not Tambuwal. We want to prove a point that he cannot
ride this party roughshod. He has state resources to spend; we will pool
resources together to stop him.
“We are working with some PDP
governors to campaign against Tambuwal during the presidential primaries in
August. We will also show Governor Nyesom Wike that he cannot impose any
presidential candidate on the party. This is the last political gamble Tambuwal
will take.”
Ex-Governor Aliyu Wammako who
is currently in Saudi Arabia for the Umrah is believed to have lost the
party structure in the state to Tambuwal, his adopted political son.
The source reckoned that Wammako
will remain in APC.
“I think for political relevance, it
pays Wammako to remain in APC and allow Tambuwal to try his luck in PDP,” he
said.
“Once Wammako is able to regain the
control of APC structure, he can influence the choice of his candidate as APC
governor and other elective positions.
“Wammako has not got a fair deal for
ceding power to Tambuwal. Also, Wammako has an in-law of President Muhammadu
Buhari as an intimate friend cum long-standing business partner. This same
friend, who has the ears of the President, has been mounting pressure on
Wammako not to dump APC. He has not decided on his next move.”
But a source in Sokoto said:
“Another option is for Wammako to move with Tambuwal to PDP with the
ex-governor allowed to be in charge of the party structure, nomination of
candidates and others. They will have to contend with the weighty political
influence of ex-Governor Attahiru Bafarawa who brought the two giants into
politics.”
Regarding ex-Governor Adamu Aliero,
his present political understanding and working alliance with Governor Atiku Bagudu
of Kebbi State can earn him a re-election ticket in the Senate.
The top source said: “Feelers from
Kebbi State have shown that Aliero appears not keen in defecting to either PDP
or any party. In fact, when there was a crisis recently in Kebbi APC between
Buhari-Bagudu Support Group (BBSG) and Four-Plus-Four (4+4) faction, the
governor appointed Aliero to mediate.
“The ex-governor actually succeeded
in reconciling the warring factions in APC in Kebbi State. The signs are not
there that he is aggrieved like a few nPDP leaders. He might be attending nPDP
meetings merely on the sideline.”
Kwankwaso’s destination yet
unknown
Although ex-Governor Kwankwaso
appears to have made up his mind to dump the APC, his destination remains
unclear.
A source said it could be either PDP
or SDP.
The hijack of the APC structure in
Kano State by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has left Kwankwaso’s prospect in
the ruling party bleak.
A source said each time he is
advised by his colleagues to remain in APC, his usual response is:
“What else do you want me to do? Do you want me to remain where I am being
maltreated?”
Whatever is his choice of party;
Kwankwaso may walk alone because the two other Senators from the state, Kabiru
Gaya and Jibrin Barau and many members of the House of Representatives may not
follow him.
Kwankwaso’s media aide, Hajiya Binta
Spikin however said: “My principal remains in APC, he has not given a hint of
defecting to another party.”
A party source said: “In Kano, it is
about individual survival. Some of us prefer to be with the governor to get our
ticket back for re-election. The era of dying because of any politician is
gone.”
A member of the House of
Representatives said: “some of us from Kano have not decided because we want to
give the incoming National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole a chance to
redress some of the wrongs in the party and reinvent APC.
“You know the outgoing National
Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun ,was all his life a civil servant, he cannot
negotiate. But as a trade unionist, Oshiomhole is a powerful negotiator and
having been a governor for eight years, he knows what to do to reconcile all.”
Adamawa’s Bindo in tinder-box
The situation in Adamawa State has
left Governor Jibrilla Bindo in a tinder-box. Ordinarily with his achievements,
he does not need to vie for survival except for political miscalculations on
his part.
The governor was earlier rumoured to
be defecting from APC to PDP and SDP but the signal so far shows that he is
still in APC.
A source said: “With ex-Vice
President Atiku Abubakar and ex-Governor Murtala Nyako in PDP, the terrain will
be tough for Bindo. If Bindo had been circumspect in his comments when Atiku
defected, it would have been easier for him to leave APC for PDP. In one step, he
is with Buhari, and when he takes another step, he likes Atiku.
“The seizure of APC structure and
alienation of party chieftains like Marcus Gundiri, ex-Military Administrator
of Lagos State, Gen. Buba Marwa, ex-SGF Babachir Lawal and ex-EFCC chairman, Mallam
Nuhu Ribadu have made the political terrain difficult for the governor to
navigate.
“Bindo’s saving grace will be the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, Sen. Binta
Masi Garba and a beloved and crowd puller aspiring senator, Aishat Dahiru
Modibbo Binani.
“Yet he needs to appease the
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Christians in the state. “Out of 20
appointments he made recently, there was no single Christian in a heterogeneous
state like Adamawa. Bindo has to be decisive on his political future.”
PDP bids time over defection of APC
chieftains, extends tenure of Imoke committee
In anticipation of mass defection
from APC and realignment of forces, the PDP has technically extended the
timeline of its Contact and Mobilization Committee which is headed by
ex-Governor Liyel Imoke.
Other members of the committee
are former governors Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), and
Gabriel Suswam (Benue); former Aviation Minister Kema Chikwe, ex-Defence
Minister, Haliru Bello, a former Director General, National Agency for
Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Paul Orhii, among others.
In setting up the committee, party
chair, Prince Uche Secondus charged it to “help open the space and allow into
our party, all those whose union with us can help in rescuing this country.”
A PDP source said: “For exigency,
the PDP leadership has again extended the timeframe of the committee. I think
it was technically done to accommodate the fallout from the National Convention
of APC on June 23.
“It is too early to close our doors
to defectors. The implosion is already evident in APC, we also want to benefit
from it. They fuelled the crisis in PDP in 2014; we will allow their internal
wrangling to fester for our own gain too.”
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