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| Asiwaju Tinubu |
There are strong indications that a gale of defection will soon hit the All Progressives Congress in the South-West.
It was gathered that many members of the
APC, who are loyal to a former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, are awaiting his directive before leaving the ruling party.
It was gathered that high-profile
meetings of politicians across party lines were being held discreetly to
fine-tune strategies for the emergence of an alternative political
platform to fight for power come 2019.
Towards this end, governors and
lawmakers, especially senators from the South-West, are said to have
intensified consultations to ensure that they are not used and dumped in
the next dispensation.
Confirming this development, Senator
Adesoji Akanbi, representing Oyo South, said Nigerians would soon see
the outcome of the new political alliances and realignments.
Akanbi said some of those, who were part of the formation of
the APC, and who had become uncomfortable with the turnout of events
after the party attained power, might be considering their options.
“You know that ambition can drive people
and a lot of people, when it comes to amalgamation like that of the
APC, some people may feel cheated and may not be happy with the outcome
of the whole thing. It is normal.
“There is no way you can form a new
party in a room. Nigerians should not be too eager to see the outcome of
such (secret and closed-door) meetings because they are still coming
out to the public to canvass for support. Let us all wait and see.”
In a veiled reference to Tinubu, he
said, “Personally, someone like me is a committed member of the APC and I
still have my leader.
“Politics is about the grass roots. You
have to know what your people want before you can decide on what to do. I
am from the South-West and we have a way of doing our thing. We still
have a leader.”
Akanbi, who declined to name names,
insisted that the people of the South-West had their way of responding
to political challenges when they occurred, adding that the decision of
the leader, most often than not, was in line with the popular wish of
the people of the geo-political zone.
He said, “I have not mentioned any name
but whatever it is, it is going to be a collective decision. Personally,
I am an advocate of regional integration. When I say regional, I am
particular about the South-West, where I come from.”
The recently suspended Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Timi Frank, has hinted that an alternative political platform was in the offing, which
might emerge in the political space within the first two quarters of
2018.
Frank had said, “I say this without fear
of contradiction; major political re-alignments are going on in this
country. I don’t want a scenario whereby my party, the APC, will lose
out.
“I don’t want us to lose our members to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party or any other political party for that matter.”
The ruling APC, however, remained
confident on its ability to withstand whatever the opposition would
throw at it in the years ahead.
The party’s National Vice-Chairman
(South-South), Hilliard Eta, told one of our correspondents on the
telephone that the party was fully aware of subterranean moves by some
individuals, whom he did not name, to cause disaffection within the
party.
Eta added, “You know, in political parties, the concept that operates is the concept of free entry and free exit.
“We are aware of the subterranean moves
being made by those who want to defect. They started by trying to divide
the party to pave the way for them to defect but we remain strong.
“Those who want to defect, we wish them
well. I even think it is better for them to leave us to build our party
instead of them remaining and undermining us.
“If they want to form a new party, good
luck to them; we will meet in the field in 2019. But for those of us,
who were in the trenches to ensure that the APC was born, will remain in
it to build and strengthen it to give Nigerians the purposeful
leadership they deserve.”
A highly-placed member of the party, who
confided in one of our correspondents because of the sensitivity of the
issue, said, “It is glaring we have issues.”
He said those “making noise” about
forming an alliance or a new political party were either trying to draw
attention to their perceived marginalisation or were simply testing the
political waters.
The party chieftain added, “We will be
playing the ostrich if we deny the fact that some of our members are
weighing their options because their physical and material investments
are not yielding the kind of dividends they expected.
“We are not under any illusion that
people will leave when the time comes. We are however working round the
clock to ensure those with electoral value don’t join them.”
Attempts to get a reaction from Tinubu’s media aide, Mr. Tunde Rahman, were unsuccessful.
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