The Chief Bisi Akande reconciliation committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has opened up on why it is yet to tackle the lingering crises rocking the ruling party.
At the peak of the festering crises at both national and state chapters of the party, the National Working Committee (NWC) constituted a 12-man reconciliation committee, chaired by Chief Akande, a former governor of Osun State.
Akande, the first interim national chairman of the ruling party was tasked with the mandate to resolve all crises rocking the party.
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Except for a statement issued on March 17, when the plot to oust the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, reached its peak, nothing was heard from the panel which is expected to douse the crises in the party.
In the statement, Akande warned that the numerous court cases filed over disputes in the party were “harmful to the party in compound ways,” and urged the warring camps to withdraw their litigations for peace to reign.
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Daily Trust reports that two months since the plea, none of the litigations had been withdrawn.
When contacted, the secretary of the panel, Senator John Enoh, said they have received 170 responses from party members across the country.
Enoh told Daily Trust, exclusively, that though they have set up an office in Abuja, they still have not done much due to coronavirus pandemic.
“First of all we set up an office in Maitama (Abuja) and before the lockdown, we had received about 170 responses nationwide from all party members.
“And just the day before the lockdown started, we were to hold a meeting on that but because of the lockdown, we are yet to fix another date for a meeting,” he said.
With the lockdown imposed across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic, political analysts wonder how the committee will address the urgent challenges in Edo and Ondo states, ahead of the gubernatorial polls.
In Edo, members of the Governor Godwin Obaseki camp of the party and those of Oshiomhole are waiting for the party’s governorship primary for their final battle.
Oshiomhole and Obaseki have been at daggers drawn for a long time.
Several moves to reconcile the duo have not yielded a positive result.
The scenario is the same as that of Ondo, where some top shots of the APC are all out to stop the second term bid of the state governor, Olurotimi Akeredolu.
Pundits are expressing fear that the fortunes of the party would be affected in the governorship elections in the two states if necessary measures are not taken to end the infighting.
Akande’s pledge at inauguration
At the inauguration in February, Akande assured the party’s national leadership that his committee would be diligent in the assignment it had been saddled with.
“I feel humbled to be asked to be part of this committee that will resolve the crisis,” he added.
Inaugurating the committee, Oshiomhole said it was expected to identify intra-party squabbles or misunderstandings in all the 36 states and identify those involved with a view to ensuring lasting peace.
He said the committee would make appropriate recommendations at the end of its exercise. He was, however, silent on the committee’s timeline.
Other members of the peace panel included: Governors Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger) and Gboyega Oyetola (Osun); Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi; Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase; Sen. Umaru Tanko Al-Makura; Sen. Kashim Shettima; Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor; Alh. Nasiru Aliko Koki; Sen. Khairat Gwadabe-Abdulrazak; Sen. Binta Garba; and Sen. John Enoh (Secretary).
Daily Trust reports that aside Edo and Ondo states, the panel will have a tough time in resolving crises in Zamfara, Rivers, Kwara, Cross River, Katsina, among others.
The crisis arising from vacancies in the National Working Committee (NWC) is another issue the panel will have contend with.
