- The National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu are currently at loggerheads
- Tinubu has demanded that the NWC gives way for genuine reconciliation to take place in the party
- The demands of the former governor of Lagos, has further polarised the party
A report by Daily Independent indicates that all is not well within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
This is due to the demand by the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, that the party's National Working Committee (NWC) be shown the way out for him to carryout the assignment of reconciliation, given to him by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Barely a week after he commenced the task, Tinubu wrote to President Buhari accusing the party chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun of sabotaging his reconciliation efforts.
Tinubu (mifddle) and Chief Oyegun (right) have been at loggerheads for a while. Source: Twitter
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The letter, titled, ‘Actions and conduct weakening the party from within,’ also had Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara in copy.
A source quoted in the report, said the feeling of some members of the party is that while Tinubu should be given all he requires to carry out his assignment successfully, he should not take undue advantage of the situation to get even with Odigie-Oyegun and other exco members.
“I can tell you that there is division within the APC camp over Tinubu’s request that the Oyegun-led exco must vacate office in place of a caretaker committee. Many of our members believe the reconciliation team should be given free hand to carry out its task without inhibition especially given the fact that the election is just around the corner.
“Though we are not sure of what transpired between Oyegun and the president last week, we believe President Buhari should consider the interest of the party first and not allow some few individuals constitute an impediment to the peace building process.
“However, there are others who believe that Tinubu is trying to take advantage of the opportunity given him to punish Oyegun who he has been having a running battle with. These ones believe that he can carry out the assignment without asking the NWC to resign,” the source said.
Adding his voice to the debate, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Professor Itsey Sagay, said the Oyegun-led exco should either resign or refrain from interfering in Tinubu’s assignment like they are currently doing as stated in Tinubu’s letter.
His words: “Yes, I think they rather resign or if they will remain in office, they should not just interfere in what he is doing and give him a free hand in carrying out his responsibility.
There is no doubt that the National Working Committee of APC will need very, very drastic changes for the party to win the 2019 election. They will need a very dynamic and different purposeful leaders if they will make an impact on both the party and the country.”
On his part, a respected senior member of the party, Prince Tony Momoh, said Oyegun and his exco need not resign for Tinubu to do his job.
He added that Tinubu never insisted that he cannot do the job until the NWC quit office.
His words: “Tinubu never said he won’t carry out the reconciliation tasks until Oyegun and other members of the NWC resign. The constitution provides for who becomes a member of the NWC and then provides for exit from office. So, if they are going to leave, it will be through due process.
“Tinubu never said members of the NWC must resign before he does his job. He went to the party secretariat, they held a meeting and they all decided to work together.
“Where did the people get this impression that unless they resign, Tinubu cannot succeed in his task? To me, resigning or no resigning is not a condition for doing the work of reconciliation.”
The report however quoted an unnamed member of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) saying Tinubu had during the closed door meeting he had with them at the party secretariat, asked them to resign as a way of finding a lasting solution to the intractable crisis rocking the party.
“I am not surprised by the current letter written by Asiwaju Tinubu. During his visit to the party secretariat, he had asked us members of the NWC led by Chief Oyegun to resign but we told him that is impossible since our tenure will end in June.
“We later understood he wanted to install a caretaker committee headed by Chief Bisi Akande, thereby having his structures in charge of the party. That I can tell you is the genesis of the crisis,” the source said.
READ ALSO: APC national caucus, NEC meet amidst crisis
Meanwhile, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state at the weekend said there was no crisis in the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to the governor, since the chapter was peaceful, there was no need for the APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to come to the state.
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Source: Naija.ng