APC May Split as Stakeholders Prepare to Battle Buni.  …Critics Question Basis for Land Cruiser Gift to Udoedehe

The crisis rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), appears to be degenerating each passing day, since few weeks ago, when it was discovered that the caretaker committee, chaired by Yobe State Governor, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni, had a game plan to hijack the party.

According to AbujaCityJournal, Buni had hatched out plans with a few governors, to hijack the party and decide on a candidate of their choice for the President come 2023.

Multiple sources have disclosed to our correspondent that there would be a showdown across board in the days ahead to forestall Buni’s agenda. At different fora, party members in Kwara, Katsina, Kano, Lagos, Kebbi, Ogun, Sokoto, Oyo, Borno, Plateau, Zamfara, Bayelsa, Delta, Imo, Rivers, Edo, have accused the committee of plan to self-perpetuate itself in office.

In what looks like a build up to the speculation, selected members of the committee, on Tuesday visited President Muhammadu Buhari and proposed to him the need for new membership registration.

Shortly after the meeting, some critics of the caretaker committee had raised some salient issues, which put question marks on the meeting. One, the critics wondered why Governor Buni decided to leave out some members of the committee, especially a leader like Senator Ken Nnamani , who lives in Abuja. Another issue raised was the chairman’s decision to visit the President for the meeting with some governors, whose bidding, many believe Buni was committed to fulfill ab initio. Specifically, critics question the attendance of Governors of Kebbi and Jigawa States, Senator Atiku Bagudu and Alhaji Abubakar Badaru, who are not members.

A fresh source has informed the AbujaCityJournal that for Buni to have smooth sail in office, his promoters among his governor colleagues, have started patronizing members of the committee, believed to be in their camp. Apart from physical gifts, some have been assured of consensus candidatures for either governorship or senatorial position, come 2023.

In what looked like a confirmation of such speculation, the Secretary of the committee, Senator John Udoedehe, was yesterday reported by AbujaCityJournal, to have warned party members in Uyo during a news conference, to mark his 57th birthday to stop fighting over the 2023 governorship ticket, assuring them that it was already reserved for him. “When I became the chairman of the Uyo Local Government Area at the age of 33 , I never disrespect my elders. As a Senator, I was the Chairman Senate Committee on Privatisation without smiting my elders. Why should the youths plan to bench their elders now?” He asked.

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the party, on Wednesday, confirmed to our Correspondent that two governors have allegedly bought Land Cruiser Jeeps for some members of the committee, including Senator Udoedehe, all in an attempt to secure their loyalty.

“As at the time Buni and his committee members were coming in, we were all excited. Personally, I saw Buni as the Biblical messiah, who had come to rescue the party but I can tell you he has succeeded in polarizing the system. His major mission is to satisfy the whims and caprices of some of his colleagues in the Governors’ Forum. Is it not ironic that Governor Buni’s assignment as governor in Yobe State has now become secondary? Are you not surprised that they have sidelined some members of the committee, who they suspect may not agree with their game plans? Who gave Udoedehe the assurance that he would contest unopposed for Akwa Ibom Governorship in 2023? Mallam Buni enjoys the chairmanship position so much that he may end up sacrificing his governorship seat for it. We are waiting for him and his promoters. I can assure you, he has just stepped on banana peel and we all know the implication. In the next few days, the wheat would be separated from the chaff, mark my word” the party leader lamented.

Another source told our Correspondent in Tsafe, Zamfara State, on Tuesday, that the National Executive Council meeting planned for December may end up being a stillborn because of lack of trust between the leaders and the led.

“The proposed NEC meeting planned for December will be tumultuous as Buni and his team will not be allowed to extend their stay or embark on membership registration being proposed. Look, stakeholders in our great party allowed past NEC illegality because of the approaching elections in Ondo and Edo States. We didn’t want things to go in the way of Zamfara, Rivers and Bayelsa where APC worked against APC prior to elections. But despite that, even a 10 year-old political conscious child knows that Buni and his governor friends threw the Edo election away. Walahi, human beings are evil. Now, innocent members have been thrown out of the power corridor for the next four years in Edo just as people like us are licking the wound in Zamfara as a result of self-inflicted crisis. We are now ready to do battle, if only the committee members think they can dissolve the party’s structure from ward to state level and put their stooges there, they must be joking,” the party leader stated.

Speaking further, the stakeholder stated that Buni has cleverly selected a team of four, including himself, in the committee and left out nine members. Those the stakeholder listed to have been pushed aside include; Senator Ken Nnamani , Prof Tahir Mamman, Gov Gboyega Oyetola and Hon Akinyemi Yusuf. Others are; Gov Sani Bello, David Lyon, Dr. James Lalu, Abba Ari and Sen. Abubakar Yusuf.

However, those in the kitchen cabinet of Buni for the hatchet job on elongation of tenure and new membership registration are; Gov Buni (chairman), Mallam Ismail Ahmad, Sen Akpan Udoedehe (Secretary) and Stella Okotete.

It would be recalled that the caretaker committee was set up in June, after the dissolution of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), led by a former Edo State Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, with a six-month mandate to reform the party and conduct a national convention to birth a new leadership.

As at today, about seven weeks to the end of its tenure, the caretaker committee is far from achieving the task, triggering speculations that it is plotting to seek approval from the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party for the elongation of its tenure beyond December.

But in a swift reaction, Buni described the allegation of planned tenure elongation as false, saying that the committee comprises three governors who are not seeking for new jobs.

As things stand, the future looks bleak for the one time united party. Pundits believe that except individuals allow party interest to supplant their individual ambitions, APC may split in the months ahead.