THE national leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC has set
machinery in place to whip Governors Ibikunle Amosun and Rochas Okorocha
in line towards advancing the interests of the party in the
governorship elections in Ogun and Imo States respectively.
Besides,
the two governors who have sworn not to support the APC governorship
candidates in their two states, the party, Saturday Vanguard gathered,
is also putting focus on at least two ministers, Adebayo Shittu and
Solomon Dalung, and also on the director general of the Voice of
Nigeria, VON, Mr. Osita Okechukwu.
Amsoun and Okorocha were
peeved by the decision of the national leadership to enthrone persons
opposed by them as the APC governorship candidates in their two states.
Both men have sworn to support their favoured candidates in alternative
platforms but at the same time also support President Muhammadu Buhari’s
re-election bid on the basis of what they claimed as the performance of
the president.
Governor Amosun in furtherance of his bid to sell
his favoured successor, Rep. Adekunle Akinlade was as at press time
yesterday locked in a meeting with the Inter-Party Advisory Council,
IPAC chapter in Ogun State ostensibly to woo support for Akinlade.
Governor Okorocha has on his part vowed to enthrone his son-in-law, Uche
Nwosu as his successor and vowed to stop the official APC candidate,
Senator Hope Uzodinma succeed him.
The APC national leadership
is, however, nonplussed over the issue affirming yesterday that the
party was watching them for observance of anti-party behavior prior to
applying strict sanctions.
“We have put machinery to monitor them
and if you are not supporting the candidate of the party the only word
to describe that is anti-party,” a very prominent party official told
Saturday Vanguard yesterday on the condition of anonymity.
“They
claim to be supporting Mr. President but working against the interest of
the president’s party, how is that possible? The president needs a
comfortable National Assembly majority and APC governors to help him to
deliver,” the party official said.
One of the sanctions the
official let slip was the possible dissolution of the state executives
of the party, a development that would remove the control of the party
from the hands of the governors and put them out of the loop in party
affairs.
Remarkably, both Okorocha and Amosun are APC candidates in senatorial elections in their two states.
“If
you are not supporting every candidate of the party then you are
playing anti-party,” the official said as he vowed that the plans of the
two governors against the APC governorship candidates in Ogun and Imo
States would come to nought.
“All those plots will not work, they
will fail, because the party will strongly support their candidates and
we will make sure that we deliver our candidates despite the plots of
these people.
“Fayose (former governor of Ekiti State) as a
sitting governor was not able to deliver, so why are they elevating
their powers,” the party official said.
“The party already knows
what to do, but we are just waiting for the nod of the president because
what they are doing is totally anti-party. Some ministers who didn’t
get ticket are also saying the same thing.”
He cited the minister
of youth and sports, Solomon Dalung who has been in a long rivalry with
Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State and reportedly opposed his
re-nomination as party candidate. He also cited the case of Shittu, the
minister of communications who made a boisterous campaign first for the
president’s re-election and then made an abortive bid for the APC
governorship ticket.
The party official was also displeased with
Mr. Okechukwu, the director-general of VON who has been in the trenches
against national chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who he
accused of manipulating the primaries for selfish desires.
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