Stakeholders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in the South West geo-political zone are currently meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
Among those who beat the time to arrive early at the meeting billed to take place at 1pm include former interim National Chairman of the party and former governor of Osun state, Chief Bisi Akande; Minister for Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Muhammed and his Finance counterpart, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.
Others include the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Governor of Ogun state Chief Olusegun Osoba, former Governor of Osun state, Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode who arrived about 12.50 pm.
Also attending the meeting include Senate Chief Whip, Senator Olusola Adeyeye; Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.
The Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu. Governor Ibikunle Amosun, and Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state have all arrived the venue of the meeting.
The purpose of the meeting is yet to be revealed.
Immediate past National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd), has revealed that he actively lobbied Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to allow President Muhammadu Buhari, be the presidential candidate of the ACN and CPC in the 2011 race.
Dasuki also insists that as opposed to what is being said in several quarters, he never maltreated nor took part in maltreating Buhari when he was removed as military Head of State in a 1985 coup.
The former NSA, who is on the radar of the Department of State Services, disclosed this to Yushua Shauib in Abuja.
Dasuki said: “I always respect and dignify my seniors and those in positions of authority whether in service or after. Though a young officer, I was reluctant to be among those that arrested him. And I was not.
“I only met him afterward at Bonny Camp with Lawal Rafindadi. There is no way I could have maltreated him as being alleged in some quarters. I am glad most of the actors are still alive.”
Speaking further, Dasuki said he knelt down to beg Bisi Akande, who was then Chairman of Action Congress Nigeria, ACN, to accept the President because “General Buhari is a man to be trusted.”
He said respected Northern elements like Adamu Adamu, Bashir Kurfi, Sule Hamman, Wada Maida and Kabir Yusuf, could testify to his active involvement in the past efforts by Buhari to be President.
He said: “In the belief that Yoruba and south-westerners are never religious fanatics, especially regarding politics, me and my group suggested that Tinubu should be a running mate to Buhari.
“When other elements opposed that proposition, Tinubu team therefore recommended a Buhari-Osinbajo ticket. Unfortunately, the ticket failed to stick as Pastor Tunde Bakare was eventually pushed forward by other forces.”
Source -ynaija.com
Former Interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, yesterday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari and governors elected on the platform of the APC to settle the differences in the party and save it from imminent collapse.
“What began as political patronages to be shared into APC membership, spreads among ethnic zones, religious faiths and political rankings and experiences have now become so complicated that the sharing has to be done by and among PDP leadership together with cohorts of former new-PDP affiliations in the APC, by and among gangs of past anti-Buhari’s presidency, and certain APC legislators and party members who dance round the crisis arena to pick some crumbs,” Akandee told Vanguard.
The one time governor of Osun State described the crisis within the APC as a conspiracy, stressing; “now that the whole conspiracy has blown open, it is doubtful if the present institutions of party leadership can muster the required capacity to arrest the drift.
“It is my opinion that President Buhari, and the APC governors should now see APC as a wrecking platform that may not be strong enough again to carry them to political victory in 2019 and they should quickly begin a joint damage control effort to reconstruct the party in its claim to bring about the promised change before the party’s shortcomings begin to aggravate the challenges of governance in their hands,” Akande stated.
The Senate Minority Leader and one of the leading contenders for the Senate Presidency, Senator George Akume, on Friday disagreed with the Pioneer National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Bisi Akande and a leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, over their declaration that zoning arrangement won’t be used in sharing of political positions in the National Assembly.
Akume, who spoke with journalists in his Abuja residence on Friday evening, maintained that the party, before now, had adopted a zoning arrangement which favoured the emergence of the next Senate President from the North Central, being his geopolitical zone.
It would be recalled Akande had, earlier this week, said the party would not employ the use of zoning to determine the next senate president and that anybody was free to vie for the position.
In the same vein, Tinubu had told journalists on Thursday in Abuja that zoning will not be used to compromise the quality of leadership for the National Assembly, adding that the party had decided to allow all those interested in the Speakership of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate to contest.
But Akume insisted that zoning was part and parcel of the politics of Nigeria, arguing that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan became the President of Nigeria as a result of zoning.
He said, “Even if zoning is not explicitly stated in the Constitution, there is always this letting to understanding that there must be fairness and balance in the occupation of strategic positions. We should not throw away zoning.
“In every zone, there are capable Nigerians that will hold their own in every endeavour. So, basically zoning is acceptable to me because it ensures stability. I have not heard from the party that they have jettisoned zoning.
“I remember, the last meeting we had, there was this issue that it has been zoned to North Central. I do not know it has been taken away because the party has not said they are taking it away but all I want to say is that the party made a comment on it.
“I am a faithful party man. I was part of the team that negotiated the merger of this party and I am also in the privilege position to talk about the dynamism of APC”.
On the argument that the North-Central, specifically Benue State, had occupied the Senate Presidency since 2007, Akume said there was nothing wrong with the trend even as he argued that the North-West, has also, always produced the President of the country whenever it was the turn of the North.
The former interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bisi Akande has said that the party will not use zoning to choose the next Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives. He noted that zoning is not part of the APC as it is not in the party’s constitution.
Akande, who spoke on Tuesday in Lagos, said it was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that brought zoning into Nigeria’s polity.He stated that the party will not copy the style of the PDP.
He rejected the notion that the party was standing in the way of any qualified senator in its fold to contest the position of Senate President.
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