The crisis in the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) seems to have taken a new dimension as the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has started reaching out to his former political.
The multi-layered crisis in the ruling party is threatening the erstwhile good relationship between Tinubu and President Muhammadu Buhari.
The crisis in the ruling party started before the 2015 general elections but became full-blown after Buhari was sworn in as president. There has been discontent within the Tinubu camp.
Sources said that members of the group and their principal were not happy with what they saw as attempts by the party leadership and the presidency to diminish Tinubu’s premium contributions to Buhari’s emergence as president and undermine the former Lagos State governor’s leadership in his South-West power base.
It was learnt over the weekend that some of Buhari’s closest associates have been pushing back by telling those who are close to Tinubu that Nigeria cannot have a ‘co-presidency.’
Although the two leaders had tried futilely to keep the frosty relationship away from public knowledge, things came to a head a few days ago when Tinubu wrote an open letter lambasting the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who is believed to enjoy the support of the president.
After the letter was published, Oyegun refrained from responding to Tinubu. But he later visited President Buhari in Aso Rock and photographs of the duo laughing and sharing banters was made public.
Shortly thereafter, Oyegun replied Tinubu and described the latter’s open letter as ‘reckless.’
Tinubu’s harsh denunciation of the party chairman has been widely interpreted as a direct protest against Buhari. In private, Tinubu’s loyalists are complaining that his political capital is being eroded by the hostile actions of the president’s men and the inactions of the president.
Tinubu’s loyalists in the South-West have listed Buhari’s hostile actions against the APC national leader to include the exclusion of his candidates from Buhari’s final ministerial list, the gang-up against his candidate in the Kogi governorship election, James Faleke, who was the late Audu Abubakar’s running mate; and the alleged fraud against his candidate in the Ondo governorship primary, Olusegun Abraham.
But pro-Tinubu elements within the party and other sympathisers have vowed to resist any attempt to humiliate Tinubu.
Some of Tinubu’s close associates, who pleaded anonymity because of possible reprisal, spoke about the situation.
A chieftain of the party in Osun State, said, “This is the beginning of the end of the APC. The party will shatter into smithereens. We are ready for them. They are going nowhere.
“We know the political leader of the South-West and that person is unmistakably Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. They are envious of Tinubu’s achievements, but they don’t have Tinubu’s clout. None of those scrambling to wear Tinubu’s shoes have the clout to do so. These ingrates are the people that have benefitted immensely from Tinubu’s large-heartedness. Now, they are stabbing him in the back. We are in the South-West together, we shall see.”
Speaking in a telephone interview on Friday, Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, said he would not hesitate to fight against any anti-Yoruba policy by the Buhari-led administration. He said he would team up with like-minded leaders in the South-West to resist attacks on any of the region’s political leaders.
Another top APC leader in the South-West noted that apart from trying to destroy his political structures, many in Tinubu’s camp believe that one of the ways the national leader’s opponents would attack him is to go after his business interests and associates.
“We won’t be surprised if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission wakes up tomorrow to say they are probing Tinubu or his associates. They may even send the Department of State Services after him because that is the step the Buhari government has taken against all their perceived enemies. Asiwaju knows that they may come for him.”
Similarly, a chieftain of the party said in a telephone interview on Friday that a former Governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande, had warned Tinubu against the alliance with the North.
The chieftain said, “Baba Akande didn’t like the idea of teaming up with the North. He had advised that the APC should concentrate on the South-West and seek ways to develop it massively.
A party source, who said he was privy to the earliest events that signaled trouble for Tinubu, added that the president had assured Tinubu that he would be shown the list of ministers before it would be made public so that the latter could have his own input. He added that the president, however, sent a copy of the list to Tinubu and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, at the same time.
“By sending the list to Asiwaju and Saraki at the same time, Buhari subtly undermined the promise he made to Tinubu because he knew that with the copy of the ministerial list in Saraki’s hands, there was no way Tinubu could make any input into the list.”
It was gathered that Tinubu had reached out to prominent Yoruba leaders, such as Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa, Chief Olanihun Ajayi, among others, in the bid to reposition himself and the South-West.
Also, it was gathered that an attempt at rapprochement was ongoing between Tinubu and the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.
Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, a staunch Tinubu loyalist, is said to be the arrowhead of the move to reconcile Tinubu and Mimiko.
A Yoruba leader confirmed that some Yoruba leaders, who were opposed to Tinubu up till the 2015 elections, had been holding meetings with him lately.
The ex-Afenifere chieftain said, “The whole thing is shocking to some of us. How come those who knew all Tinubu did to them politically have suddenly made a U-turn in an attempt to save him from the onslaught on him in the APC?”
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