‘He may not return to Nigeria until after Ondo
polls’
The crisis in the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC) is taking a turn for the worse.
It was learnt that a meeting scheduled for last
week Tuesday to resolve the controversy
trailing the September 3 governorship
primaries in Ondo State won by the former
President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr.
Rotimi Akeredolu, did not hold.
A source from the party said he was not
aware of any meeting scheduled for last
Tuesday, but confirmed the one scheduled for
today at the instance of the National
Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-
Oyegun.
The Guardian learnt that the National Leader
of the APC, Bola Tinubu, who is considered
central to the issues, tactically evaded the last
Tuesday meeting on the excuse of going
abroad for a medical treatment.
Tinubu has been having a running battle with
Odigie-Oyegun over the Ondo primaries and
had openly called for his removal in a
published statement.
Akeredolu, who allegedly got the blessings of
some APC leaders led by Odigie-Oyegun and
some ministers, won the primaries against Mr.
Segun Abraham, the alleged preferred
candidate of Tinubu. The situation resulted in
the defection of Mr. Olusola Oke, one of the
APC governorship aspirants, to the Alliance
for Democracy (AD) to pursue his ambition.
As the crisis deepens, there is a rumour that
the Abuja caucus is supporting Akeredolu
while Tinubu, the Lagos chapter and some
stakeholders in the South West zone are
backing Oke, a development some people have
described as anti-party activity perpetrated by
the national leader.
It was learnt that whether the reconciliation
meeting was to have been held last week or
will hold today, Tinubu is not favourably
disposed to attending any meeting with
Odigie-Oyegun.
An influential party leader in the South West
said: “I am not aware of the last Tuesday
meeting but I knew that the national chairman
called for a meeting for November 8 and the
invitation was extended to some leaders
including Chief Bisi Akande and Tinubu. What
the agenda is, I don’t know but obviously the
national leader is currently in Chicago and
may definitely not attend the meeting.”
When The Guardian sought the opinions of
some South West APC leaders on the issue,
many of them said the crisis was beyond what
they would want to get themselves involved
in.
One of those approached, however, said : “Did
you want me to tell you that some people are
involved in anti-party activity when I don’t
have any proof? There is a crisis, yes, but it
has to do with the leadership of the party.
They will resolve it.”
When also asked if Tinubu would return from
his medical trip before the election, he
retorted, “I am neither Tinubu nor Odigie-
Oyegun. You can direct your question to them.
I don’t want to get involved.”
Yet another South West member of the party
said: “I am not from Lagos or Ondo. It is true
I am close to the national leader but that
doesn’t mean anything because I belong to
the Oyo chapter of APC.”
The Guardian learnt that Tinubu deliberately
travelled abroad to avoid going to Ondo to
campaign for Akeredolu. “For instance, it
would look abnormal if President
Muhammadu Buhari goes to Ondo to
campaign for Akeredolu and Tinubu fails to
follow him. The best bet for him is to stay out
of the country until the Ondo election is
conducted.”
It was also alleged that some leaders of the
Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere are
sympathetic to Tinubu over his plight in the
APC and by so doing have decided to give
their blessings to Oke, whom the national
leader is allegedly supporting.
But the National Publicity Secretary of
Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin dismissed the
insinuation, saying he was not aware of such
sympathy.
Guardian
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