•Tinubu backs national chairman
Embattled National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, gets a lifeline today as President Muhammadu Buhari meets with the party’s governors in Abuja.
Oshiomhole, who has been battling to retain his position following his suspension by an Abuja High Court, also got a hefty relief yesterday as the party’s National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, threw his weight behind him, dismissing the move to oust the national chairman as a selfish one being organized by those he said saw Oshiomhole as a stumbling block to their 2023 ambitions.
THISDAY was informed last night by reliable presidency sources that the president has decided to intervene in the leadership crisis that has produced multiple court rulings, which threaten to tear the party apart.
Subsequently, said the source, the National Executive Committee meeting scheduled for tomorrow would no longer be attended by the president since he intends to use today’s meeting with the governors to douse the crisis.
Oshiomhole’s seat was endangered by an Abuja High Court ruling earlier in the month, which gave teeth to his suspension by his ward in Edo State. Although he got another ruling from Federal High Court, sitting in Kano restraining the party from implementing the suspension by his ward, he also appealed the Abuja High Court ruling and applied for a stay of execution.
His application for stay comes up today at the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division.
Whatever the outcome of the appeal, the president’s meeting with the party’s governors today holds the ace for the national chairman as it would take the sail out of the wind of his traducers that have been pushing for his ouster.
The rebellion, which has also polarised the National Working Committee (NWC), is believed to be backed by some of the party’s governors who are said to be a nursing presidential ambition for 2023.
Buhari, who presidency sources had told THISDAY authorized tomorrow’s meeting, is said to be pulling out of the parley on the ground that it might not be sustained by the provisions of the APC constitution.
THISDAY learned that the president had sanctioned the meeting in the mistaken belief that the Acting National Secretary, Chief Victor Giadom, that signed the letter of request for the date was authorized to do so.
“With the controversy generated, the president directed the Attorney-General to look into the constitutional issues around the meeting and he would appear to have advised caution,” a presidency source told THISDAY.
Tinubu, THISDAY further learned, was also said to have prevailed on Buhari to reconsider his decision to attend the meeting, warning that the parley could eventually divide the party down the middle, a possible occurrence that would do incurable damage to the president’s legacy.
He was also said to have told the president from faraway London that although everyone, including himself, had issues with the national chairman, that if he had to be removed the constitution of the party had to be followed.
Tinubu would appear to have persuaded Buhari to bark out as THISDAY was told authoritatively last night that tomorrow’s meeting is no longer on the president’s schedule for the week.
Perhaps emboldened by Buhari’s change of mind, Tinubu stood up for Oshiomhole yesterday with a statement, dismissing the efforts to oust the national chairman as a product of ‘old ambition 2023 virus,’ capable of undermining the unity of the APC.
However, the National Vice Chairman North-east of the party, Mr. Salihu Mustapha, at the weekend, dismissed efforts to stop the NEC meeting, saying no court order will stop it.
Speaking against the backdrop of the order of a Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos, that a former Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; Mr. Waziri Bulama and Paul Chukwuma must be allowed to take part in the gathering, he said they would only be allowed to take part in the meeting if they are NEC members.
Ajimobi was at the last meeting of NEC in February named the deputy national chairman of the party (South); Bulama, secretary and Chukwuma as an auditor.
Tinubu, who described the APC crisis as a sickness he identified as ‘old Ambition-virus 2023,’ said this illness, unlike the coronavirus, afflicts many in the political class along with their allies in the media.
He noted that while coronavirus has been presently contained in Nigeria, the old ambition-virus 2023 has become another sickness that seems rampant within a certain segment of society.
He faulted the convocation of the NEC meeting, saying the convener had no power to summon such a meeting.
He added that the convener had the temerity to make such a move because he was instigated by powerful individuals, who he thought would reward him or protect him for committing the wrongful act.
He described Oshiomhole as a tireless campaigner and mobilizer for the party.
According to him, Oshiomhole has steered the ruling party through difficult elections.
“His contributions should not be undervalued now that the bulk of elections are behind us. To do so would be an act of ingratitude,” he added.
Tinubu acknowledged the dispute between Oshiomhole and the Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, but added that the party had activated the proper organs to resolve the spat.
He said despite the efforts to settle the rift, those who were motivated by ambitions that have nothing to do with the quality of Oshiomhole’s performance, have shunned the agreed party reconciliation mechanism and resorted to other means to sack him.
“The plotters launched their attack solely because they perceive the chairman as an obstacle to their 2023 ambitions. People went to court knowing full well the party constitution prohibits such action because these people had not yet exhausted all internal disciplinary procedures. We even had a national deputy secretary improperly call for an NEC meeting on the basis that he believed himself the acting national chairman. Clearly, this man would not have summoned the temerity to make such a move had he not been instigated by powerful individuals who he thought would reward or, at least, protect him for committing the wrongful act.
“Those engaged in these maneuvers see themselves as clever or cunning. They do so because they only understand the mean craft of political intrigue. They have yet to understand the value and long-term utility of democratic governance. Thus, they embark on the strangest of a quest. They would rather dismantle and weaken the institutional core of their party just to gain control of that weakened edifice in order to pilfer the party nomination, which they crave. This is more than sad,” he added.
Tinubu said he built APC along with others, not simply as a vehicle for personal ambition.
“We built the party because we saw it as perhaps the only enduring hope to bring progressive governance to this nation. Those who now seek to abuse the party by using it as their personal device do it great harm. They should not be allowed to sacrifice this collective enterprise at the altar of their self-aggrandizement,” he said.
He stated that those afflicted with the 2023 virus were undermining President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration.
Tinubu called on those fighting Oshiomhole to help the president.
“The president is faced with many challenges. He is fighting hard on security to keep the population safe. He is pushing for economic reforms that will augur future sustainable growth. His disdain for corruption remains unwavering,” he said, adding that this is the time for governance and not for politics of 2023.
The former Interim National Chairman of the party and Chairman of the party’s Reconciliation Committee, Chief Bisi Akande, had earlier warned that the many court cases filed over disputes in the party were harmful to the party in compound ways.
“I must remind party members that the party constitution requires that all internal dispute resolution measures be exhausted before a member carries a matter to court. I dare say this provision has not been honored either in spirit or in the letter by those initiating these court cases seeking to oust party officials,” Akande said in a statement on Saturday.