By Gideon Njoku
The All Progressives Congress, APC, is on fire. The fear is that the ruling party at the centre may collapse sooner than later.
As a solution, its former Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has asked for the dissolution of the National Working Committee, NEC, of the party. He said the party has become the greatest threat to the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration.
The former Permanent Secretary said he was also ashamed of at the level the party which many of them struggled for, and worked hard to build, has descended to.
In a statement he personally signed on Saturday entitled “Before It’s Too Late”, Odigie-Oyegun said it is regrettable that “Our Own Political Party, APC, is fast becoming the most dangerous threat to the legacy of our government and our President.
“In the last few months, we have watched how the party has brazenly subverted its own principles of internal democracy, and flagrant violation of every rule of decent political engagement in a manner that makes everyone associated with its promise of change liable to be accused of hypocrisy or apostasy”
The former Chairman said that when he and other compatriots built a coalition of progressives in 2012, they were driven by a deep sense of patriotism.
Said he: “We believed at the time that the ship of our country was headed for the rocks. Therefore, the significant progressive opposition parties and, indeed, all men of goodwill joined forces not only to bring it back on course, but also to set it on a completely different trajectory that would restore the hopes of our people, and make every Nigerian proud of this great country again.”
He advised that the National Executive Committee to meet, and set up an Interim Management Committee to run the affairs of the party”
And right on cue, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Yekini Nabena, asked the President to convene a meeting of the NEC in order to save the party from collapsing. He said in Abuja that the party was drifting towards disintegration.
The APC has been in serious crisis, leading to the decampment of Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, to the PDP, and the reaffirmation of the suspension of Adams Oshiomhole as the National Chairman of the Party.
For now, there is confusion in the party over who the Acting Chairman of the Party is. In the last few days, the APC has had four men, each claiming to be the acting Chairman of the party. President Buhari has said not a word.
