2023: APC govs rally to save Tinubu

By Ori Martins

The age-long axiom that says a divided kingdom cannot stand seems to be playing out in the rank and file of the governing party the All Progressives Congress, APC. Last governors elected on the party ticket met with President Buhari to seek rapprochement between them and save the campaign from collapsing. 

For some time now, the presidency and the party’s presidential candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have been at daggers drawn. There have been allegations and counter allegations, culminating in the blow-out by Tinubu recently that the presidency was working against his campaign, which was followed shortly by the controversial interview of Governor Nasir elRufai of Kaduna state, in which he accused some elements in the presidency of working for the opposition PDP to defeat Tinubu.

Certainly, this ugly scenario has put the APC at tight corner going into the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections as well as the March 11, 2023 governorship and state houses of assembly elections.

The ongoing presidency, Tinubu angst, got underway when the former governor of Lagos State raised an alarm that there were current policies of the APC government supervised by President Muhammadu Buhari, which were targeted against him and his 2023 presidential dream.

According to Tinubu, the newly redesigned naira notes and the fuel scarcity were artificially created to discourage people from voting for the ruling party, and by implication, himself.

What Tinubu struggled to explain was that Buhari as the minister of petroleum is complicit, even as Nigerians have been lamenting the scarcity of fuel which has seen the pomp price skyrocket between N300 and N500 per litre, insisting the masses are pointing fingers at the APC as a party.

In defence, presidential spokesperson, Chief Femi Adesina, in a release, stated that there was no truth in the claims that the new naira  redesign policy and the current scarcity of fuel were created to deny the APC presidential candidate victory. He noted that President Buhari was poised to carrying out policies and coming out with ideas he considered best in making Nigeria a better place and economically vibrant.

What made Tinubu’s allegation against the presidency very revealing was the choice of venue.

“You can see that the APC presidential candidate carefully chose where he made allegation – in Abeokuta – where he also coined the famous Emilokan slogan that ultimately enhanced his victory during the APC presidential primary election. So, the question should be, why is Tinubu always going to Abeokuta to raise frivolous alarm”, the spokesperson of the PDP in Imo State, Comrade Collins Opuruzor, queried.

While the dust raised by the Abeokuta allegation was yet to go down, the Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El – Rufai, on a national television, fired a salvo that has been causing ripples in the camp of APC.

Governor Rufai has said, “I believe there are elements in the Villa that want us to lose election because they didn’t get their way – they had thier candidate but thier candidate didn’t win the primary election.

“They are trying to get us lose the election, and they are hiding behind the president’s desire to do what he thinks is right. I will give two examples: this petroleum   subsidy  and the new naira redesign policy are targeted against Tinubu. The ideas are perfect but the timing is absolutely wrong”.

Expectedly, the Kaduna governor’s scathing  remarks never went unnoticed. The presidency fired back, debunking the allegation.

Addressing State House correspondents, the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, denied any cabal working against Tinubu.

“On a more serious note, one thing I can assure you is that no matter what, this administration is focused, determined to ensure free, fair and credible elections.

“But I think with this administration, the most important person is Mr. President and I think he has shown by words and by deeds that he is committed to free, fair and credible elections.

“And fair, free and credible elections actually mean not favouring anybody or disadvantaging anybody. If there is anybody working against a candidate we do not know, officially”, the minister clarified.

Asked if the raging tiff between the presidency and the APC presidential candidate would not harm the party’s chances in the forthcoming elections, the publicity secretary of APC in Imo State, Comrade Cajetan Duke Akuta, said the broom party would coast home to victory in grand style.

“The point remains that our great party, the APC, will win the 2023 General Elections comprehensively. We shall win the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections as well as the March 11 governorship and state houses of assembly elections whole and entire.

“I really understand your concern, if I may add, your thinking. The trending revelation by Kaduna State governor that there are cabal in Aso Rock working against the APC presidential candidate.

“You must understand that those at the presidency are working for the country by assisting President Muhammadu Buhari to accomplish his dream of making the country to work better.

“However, at the grassroots – I mean at the wards, local councils and state levels – we have loyal and committed party faithful, who are toiling day and night for the success of APC and their candidates at all levels. We shall win the election squarely”, he reiterated.

On the contrary, there are many, who believe that for Tinubu to have raised the alarm that the fuel scarcity and naira redesign policy were aimed at bringing him down, meant that there might be some powerful cartel in the presidency working against the APC presidential candidate.

As the national coordinator, Universal Initiative for Good Governance, Orderliness and Justice, Comrade Peter Iwuji, observed, there are formidable forces against Tinubu’s presidential aspiration.

“I totally agree with El Rufai in his claims that a cabal in the presidency is working against the APC presidential candidate in the forthcoming General Elections.

“I am. saying so because Tinubu himself had earlier raised the alarm, and now the Kaduna State governor has hammered on it once again. You must understand that at that level, these top notchers know many things that are unknown to us.

“There is information at their disposals that we don’t have. The sabotage against Tinubu is real and it is causing serious disaffection and crisis within the rank and file of the party”.

It wass suggested that if the leadership of the party fails to handle and manage the current crisis very well, the February 25, 2023   presidential election might be a straight fight between the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, and People’s Democratic Party’s standard bearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.