•Mark set to profit from APC’s crisis
•South-West adamant on House speakership
•Concerns over Sylva’s headship of Buhari’s transition committee
As the All Progressives Congress (APC) strives to put its house in order ahead of the inauguration of the eighth National Assembly, it has been revealed that two major forces in the party may truncate its chances of producing the Senate president, despite being in the majority.
Also, five major power blocs are said to have emerged as political forces within the party battle for control of its soul. These blocs include the governors, party leaders and elders, including the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, new members of the National Assembly, particularly the House of Representatives, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) high-profile defectors and the Lagos/Bourdillion group.A member of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) disclosed to Saturday Tribune on Friday that the main crisis in the party over zoning of other positions was mainly about the contest between the national leader of the party, former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu and former Kwara State governor, Senator Bukola Saraki, over the Senate president’s seat.
A committee of five, headed by a former Ekiti State governor, who is also APC’s Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Segun Oni, had zoned the Senate presidency to the North-Central and the House of Representatives speakership to the South-West.
Other members of the said committee were the party’s national legal adviser, Dr Muiz Banire, Alhaji Inuwa, George Moghalu and the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The recommendations of the committee were said to have been largely acceptable to various interests in the party until the North-East started demanding the Senate presidency.
It was learnt on Friday that certain interests outside of the North-Central but who are against the perceived front-runner, Senator Saraki, instigated the North-East to start demanding for same seat zoned to the North-Central to further dim Saraki’s chances.
While the five former governors of the PDP who defected to APC are said to be solidly pro-Saraki regarding the Senate presidency job, Tinubu is reportedly leading the charge to have the Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, installed as Senator David Mark’s successor-in-office.
“The crisis in the party today is about Asiwaju not wanting Saraki as Senate president. He is the one leading the push for Akume. Apart from their supremacy battle, I can tell you the party is calm over other recommendations. Everyone knows Bukola’s capacity. It will be difficult controlling him and Asiwaju doesn’t want that. Who will not fear Saraki who confronted his own father that made him governor and defeated him in a contest? That was the old man’s first and last political defeat. Bukky (Saraki) is a tough customer any day,” a chieftain at Thursday’s inconclusive meeting told Saturday Tribune.
When a party leader from the South-West who is neck-deep in the ongoing horse-trading was asked if the speakership would not be used to compensate the North-East if the North-Central eventually had the Senate presidency, he said that would be impossible.
“That is our (South-West’s) own. That can’t happen (giving it to the North-East). The two can do whatever they like with Senate presidency, but not the speaker’s seat.”
When asked if Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila from Lagos was their preferred choice, he answered in the affirmative.
Lodging in an Abuja hotel on Gana Street, Maitama, Gbajabiamila has been reaching out to Reps-elect both within and outside his party through major political actors to build a coalition strong enough to deliver the speaker’s seat to him.
Many Reps-elect have, however, reported vowed to vote against him if presented by the party.
To further convince Buhari that Saraki wasn’t the man for the Senate top job, forces against him are said to have pointed at all the alleged ongoing corruption cases against him, from his days at the distressed Societe Generale Bank of his late father and as a two-term governor of Kwara State.
Buhari’s successful presidential run was largely founded on his projection as an apostle of anti-corruption war.
Despite Buhari’s reported hesitation over Saraki’s ambition as it concerns the alleged corruption cases involving him, the president-elect is said to be not completely in favour of Akume’s emergence, which would give Tinubu near total control of the Federal Government, having produced the national chairman of the party, the vice-president-elect and his high chances of producing Gbajabiamila as the number four in the country.
If Tinubu succeeds with Akume’s candidacy and pushes through with Gbajabiamila, he would have single-handedly produced three out of the first four offices in the land, an analyst said.
However, Saraki is said to be pushing back hard, with a senior party man sympathetic to his cause disclosing to Saturday Tribune that no arrangement would make him step down for others who contributed little or nothing to the party.
The Saraki supporter also pooh-poohed the alleged corruption cases, saying that if things were to be done that way, nobody would stand because almost all those elected had been accused of corruption at one point or the other, including Buhari.
“There is nothing to those corruption stories. Who has not been accused before? Who? What about the person nominating everyone? What about Akume himself?”
Former Nasarawa State governor, Adamu Abdullahi, who is being widely touted as ice-breaking candidate if Tinubu and Saraki’s camps decide to battle to the finish, also has a pending alleged corruption case, which is said to be a major worry for Buhari’s camp.
With Saraki publicly saying that he is expected to be nominated for the Senate president job in June and Tinubu’s camp’s reported insistence on Akume, the stage may have been set for an upset with the possible victory of incumbent Senator David Mark, despite his party now being in the minority.
If Akume and Saraki go into the election with almost equal strength, Mark may easily win with the 49 en-bloc PDP votes, and if Saraki is forced out of the race on the account, the vibes from his camp may sound a possible spoiler-game that would ultimately benefit Mark.
According to permutations, just a combination of Saraki and outgoing governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwakwanso, could end Akume’s dream if they simply direct the six senators-elect from their states to vote Mark.
The visit by Mark to Buhari during the week was said to have been at the prompting of a power bloc in the APC which is reportedly looking out for the PDP defectors and their interests.
The thinking in Buhari’s camp is reportedly not averse to working with Mark, whose political mentors also contributed to Buhari’s electoral victory due to their differences with President Goodluck Jonathan.
Meanwhile, concerns are reportedly being raised by many party chieftains over the choice of former Bayelsa State governor, Timipre Sylva, as the head of Buhari’s transition committee due to his ongoing alleged corruption trial.
A very senior party man told Saturday Tribune on Friday that Buhari might make a nonsense of his anti-corruption posture with appointments like Sylva’s, adding that no consideration should be above incorruptibility.
Certain party chieftains are likely to meet the president-elect on the matter.
“Today, Sylva is the main man in the transition process and he is being accused of huge corruption. He is also likely to clinch a major position in our government. Is this the right way to start? Where is the moral right to criticise PDP now? If it were PDP that made this type of appointment, our party would shout from the rooftop. All the people we shouted against in the PDP have not been convicted for corruption too. So, let no one talk of being deemed innocent until proved guilty. If PDP is not attacking us over it, Nigerians are watching us. It is a bad start for us,” the party leader fumed.
APC spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, when contacted, said there was nothing to worry about the zoning crisis, promising that the issues would be sorted out soon.
Source: Tribune
