Barely two weeks to the official handover to president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress, APC, an intense test of wills is said to have rocked the party.
Reliable sources within the party exclusively told Punch over the weekend that some ex-governors, General Buhari’s associates and mutinous party members from the South-West are trying to whittle down the influence that the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, will have on the incoming government.
Tinubu, has been seen as the brain behind the success of General Buhari at the Saturday, March 28, 2015 general pools.
However, multiple sources within the party has revealed the recent strain in the relationship between the Buhari and Tinubu which was reportedly caused by some forces within the party who are trying to make the former see the latter differently.
It was gathered that the alleged forces who are powerbrokers of the party are mounting pressure on Buhari questioning Tinubu’s contribution to his victory.
Meanwhile, the traditional ruler of Lagos State, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu, have given a peak into the lingering fight between the duo at a public function in the state.
Akiolu said, “All Lagos residents should pray that the labour of Tinubu should not be in vain. A lot of things have been happening now. Some people have been telling Buhari all sorts of things. Awujale (Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland) and I have decided to meet Buhari because Lagos and South West states must benefit from the General Buhari administration.”
According to one of the reliable sources, who preferred anonymity, Tinubu’s opponents first moved against him during the APC’s national convention in June 2014.
The source said to be a close ally of Tinubu further disclosed that some ex-governors and other high-ranking members of the party backed a former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, against Tinubu’s candidate, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
He said, “Even before Buhari emerged as the party’s presidential candidate, some people in the party, particularly the governors and some ex-governors, wanted another candidate as chairman. They were totally opposed to Odigie-Oyegun who was Tinubu’s choice. They believed that if they succeeded in getting their man as the chairman, they would have more control of the party, but they failed.
“It is not a secret: initially, the same group of people in the APC were totally opposed to Asiwaju’s choice of Buhari. They wanted either former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar or Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State. When you look at it critically, their choice of these candidates then was not based on any fundamental reason but just to oppose Tinubu and gain more ground in the party. It is funny that some of them who now move around with Buhari were totally against his candidature as APC’s flag bearer.
“We are optimistic that Buhari and Tinubu will manage their relationship well. They will not allow anyone to come between them.”
While pointing out an incident that happened during Buhari’s Chatham House event in London, another undisclosed source stated that a senior party member who is also a former governor of a South-West state, had rushed in to write the President-elect’s speech which he presented to Buhari.
He said, “Not knowing that a speech had been prepared, the national leader asked if Buhari’s speech was ready. He was told that the ex-governor had written it and given it to Buhari. Tinubu was not happy because he knew nothing about the speech despite being one of the party’s top strategists. He asked that the speech be sent to him as a condition for him to attend the event. When he eventually got it, he turned it down because he felt the speech did not represent Buhari’s and the APC’s ideals properly.
“He then asked a team of experts to write another speech for Buhari. Asiwaju had to explain to Buhari why he felt the initial speech written by the former governor was not good enough.”
Reacting to a question on why some of the party leaders appeared to be vehemently against Tinubu, the source said, “Most of the people that have a grouse with our national leader believe he is too controlling and he’s not allowing them have a say. But they can express their grievances through better ways.
“The battle has now shifted to the selection of Buhari’s new cabinet. Many of those opposed to Tinubu in the party have presented themselves and others as candidates. (Some of these people are from the South-West).
“There is another sub-group made up of northerners, mostly, Fulanis. They have been touting themselves as Buhari’s closest associates since he won the elections. We’ve heard them say that the North was the dominant factor in Buhari’s win and that even though the South-West voted for him, the North donated the majority votes.
“But they are making a mistake because if President Jonathan had won all the South-West states, Buhari’s victory would have been hard to come by. They also forget that it was on the platform of the APC that Buhari emerged President. If not for the merger, Buhari wouldn’t have won. He tried to win on the platform of the CPC in 2011, but it wasn’t successful.
“Having seen that their tactics of spreading bad rumours about Tinubu to Buhari is not working, they are now playing the ethnic card to divide them. Sadly, some of our ex-governors from the South-West and South-South have joined them to play this ethnic card.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation, Mr. Garba Shehu, described the moves by the individuals as a ‘party issue’.
