2019 Election: APC splits into factions

By Michael Abimboye

All is not well with the All Progressives Congress (APC), as major forces have split the party into three major factions ahead of the 2019 election.

According to a report by New Telegraph, the APC has split into Bola Tinubu camp, Abuja group and Buhari loyalists as the various camps checkmate each other over who controls the party.

Leaders of APC.

Members of the Tinubu camp are Chief Bisi Akande, ex-Interim National Chairman of the APC and a few APC governors, while the Abuja group has governor Nasir el-Rufai, Babatunde Fashola, Rotimi Amaechi and some other ministers as members. It is speculated that the Abuja/el-Rufai group has two goals –2019 elections and to take over the structures of the party in the South- West.

 The President Muhammadu Buhari group shockingly has former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara and some state governors.

 According to the report, the Tinubu- Bisi Akande camp is strategizing on how to hold on to the South- West front just as the Abuja group, led by el-Rufai, is working with the governor Ibikunle Amosun-led south-west bloc to take control of the party structures in the zone from Tinubu.

Evidence of this played out during the governorship primaries of the party in Ondo State where the Abuja group purportedly worked against Tinubu and ensured that their preferred aspirant, Rotimi Akeredolu, emerged as the party’s candidate in the November 20 poll. This was not the first time the Abuja group fought against Tinubu. It was learnt that the same forces fought Tinubu’s choice, James Faleke, as replacement for the late Abubakar Audu, who died before the final announcement of the Kogi State governorship election result. The Abuja group, with Buhari’s loyalists, influenced the choice of Yahaya Bello as late Audu’s replacement for the supplementary election.

Also, Tinubu and Amosun fell apart during the constitution of the Buhari cabinet over who takes the Ogun State slot. While Tinubu recommended his former finance commissioner, Wale Edun, Amosun opted for his finance commissioner, Kemi Adeosun who emerged minister of finance. The relationship got worse when Tinubu facilitated the return of former governor of Ogun state, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, back to the APC with Amosun considering it a plot to fight him.

Again, the governorship ambition of Senator Solomon Adeola representing Lagos West in 2019 has further ruptured their relationship. While Amosu is leading the front in South-West, Rotimi Amaechi is co-ordinating the South-South axis of the Abuja group while el- Rufai is working with some northern governors to rally the north for the APC ahead of 2019.

 “What exactly is Tinubu’s sin, no one has been told. How can someone who played a part in the electoral victories of APC at virtually all levels suddenly become a threat?” an associate of Tinubu asked. “We know that there are forces within the party trying hard to weaken Tinubu’s support base in the party. The party primaries in Ondo State was just one of the battles against us. The whole process was manipulated in such a way that Tinubu’s candidate did not emerge. They succeeded in Kogi. Now in Ondo, they seem to be having their way. But wait. Who loses in the long run? It’s the party. Not Tinubu. “In spite of our sacrifices for the party, some forces are pushing hard to turn us to onlookers in the party. Well, we are watching how events unfold. The only thing is that we were instrumental to the emergence of this government and we won’t abandon the ship,” a loyalist of Tinubu was quoted by New Telegraph.

·         Source: Naij.com