By Ola Samuel
There are ongoing plot to undermine the All Progressives Congress, APC Caretaker Committee led by the Governor of Yobe state, Mai Bala Buni, the Director General of the Progressives Governors Forum, Dr Salihu Lukman has said, adding that this is being done to pave way for the return of Adams Oshiomhole as the National Chairman.
He made this allegation in a letter addressed to Governor Buni, the chairman APC Caretaker Committee on Wednesday and made available to journalists in Abuja.
“A group in the APC led by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not happy that the former chairman was disgraced out of office, so they are doing everything to bring him back. Don’t forget that everything boils down to 2023 presidential election. The National Leader will make sure that someone he trusts is the chairman of the party to brighten his chances,” an analyst told the magazine on Thursday.
Dr Lukman had last week accused Oshiomhole of hijacking the party’s Governorship Campaign in Edo state after sidelining some top members of the party.
Oshiomhole was removed as the APC National Chairman on June 25 after a protracted leadership crisis in the party, giving way for a Caretaker Committee led by Governor Buni.
Few months after Oshimohole’s sack, Lukman said some powerful individuals are trying to frustrate the reconciliatory efforts of the Buni-led committee, so that Oshiomhole could be returned to his former position.
He said efforts were also being made to stop the extraordinary congress of the party, where its chairman and other National Working Committee, NWC members were billed to be elected.
Under this plot, Lukman said, the former chairman will be sponsored to emerge as one of the candidates vying for the position of APC National Chairman in the Congress coming up later this year.
The letter reads in part “Just like before the June 25, 2020 emergency NEC, issues of Edo State are dominating public discussions and considerations of issues concerning the party.
This is being foisted on the party as a strategy to weaken the initiative of the caretaker committee from taking steps that could facilitate the resolution of the leadership crisis through ensuring that the forthcoming extraordinary national convention to elect a new national chairman and other members of the National Working Committee for the party different from [Mr.] Adams Oshiomhole is blocked.”
A block in the party is planning Oshiomhole’s return as APC National Chairman, Lukman said, adding that the former chairman’s backers are trying to use Edo’s governorship election to consolidate their positions.
That’s reason that oshiomhole and his supporters in the party have hijacked the election campaign of Pastor Ize-Iyamu, the APC governorship candidate, he stated.
“In other words, everything is being done to ensure that the internal politics of the party is manipulated to create situations whereby [Mr.] Oshiomhole is forcefully made a contender for the position of the national chairman at the extraordinary APC national convention.”
Ordinarily, this should not be a problem, but given that unacceptable strategies are being deployed to blackmail and bully all leaders of the party to make Edo election the only priority of the party makes it very disturbing,” Dr Lukman said.
Meanwhile, a former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, Kenneth Imansuangbon, has disclosed that his the party would win the September 19 governorship election because of the achievements of Governor Godwin Obaseki in all parts of the state.
Imansuagbon who stepped down for Governor Obaseki said the APC should forger the election of Ize-Iyamu into the government house.
“The September 19 election is a foregone issue because the people have already made up their minds to return Obaseki for a second term in office. All the plots by the opposition APC have failed.”
