Buhari’s ‘indifference’ worsens APC crises in states

• Intervene in Edo now, chieftains urge president

President Muhammadu Buhari’s indifference towards party activities is said to be responsible for the escalation of the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in states, party chieftains have said.

Reports show that months after the 2019 elections, the party is still battling with crises in many states across the country including Edo, where the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, hails from.

Daily Trust recalls that last Monday, Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu and the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Bichi, calling for the arrest of Oshiomhole.

The feud between the governor and Oshiomhole has created factions in Edo APC, ahead of this year’s governorship election in the state.

Speaking on Buhari’s indifference, a chieftain of the party said the president as the leader of the party should have addressed the crises in many states before they ballooned.

“The children are fighting and their father allowed them to kill themselves. That’s our scenario in APC. President Buhari is the father of the party and if he had played that role well, the crises in Zamfara, Rivers and now Edo wouldn’t have deteriorated.

“But because he doesn’t want to be seen interfering in party activities, he allowed everything to fester. What he should have done in the case of Zamfara and Rivers states, was to call the warring camps and give them a marching order on how best he thinks the issues should be addressed,” he said, pleading not to be named.

Intervene in Edo now, chieftains urge Buhari

Chieftains of the APC in Edo State have called on President Buhari to intervene in the crisis rocking the state before the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

They made the appeal yesterday in Benin while speaking to our reporter on the lingering feud between Oshiomhole and Obaseki.

One of the chieftains, Aslem Ojezua, said the president should call Oshiomhole to order by telling him to do his job as the national chairman and allow Obaseki to do his job as governor.

“All that Oshiomhole has to do is to restrain himself from what he is doing now so that there will be peace in the state. Members of the Edo Peoples Movement (EPM) that started the crisis are his (Oshiomhole’s) creation and has been the one funding and supervising them.

On his part, Joseph Osagiede, factional publicity secretary, said it is only the president that can call Oshiomhole to order.

“The president should call him to order to mind his business as national chairman and leave Obaseki alone to do his job,” he said.

Also speaking, Henry Idiagbon said Edo APC needs the president’s intervention before the state is turned into a theatre of war.

“The president has to intervene now, call a state of emergency in Edo and appoint sole administrators to administer the affair of the state till election is conducted,” he said.

Another chieftain, Comrade Godwin Erhahon said, “I don’t think the president is aware of how desperate Obaseki and his group have become. It is clear that Obaseki is going on a journey of no return.

“I appeal to President Buhari to obtain the true security report in the state to enable him take appropriate action. He should direct the security agencies to give him the accurate report of what is happening,” he said.

Court stops Oshiomhole, others from expelling Inuwa Abdulkadir

Meanwhile, the embattled National Vice Chairman of the APC in charge of the Northwest zone, Barr. Inuwa Abdulkadir has secured a court order restraining the party’s leaders led by Oshiomhole from expelling him from the party.

Abdulkadir, in the suit before Justice Bello Duwale of the Sokoto High Court, joined the party (APC), its National President (Oshiomhole), Sokoto state chairman of the party (Isa Sadiq Achida) and Publicity Secretary of the party in the state (Sambo Bello Danchadi), as first to fourth defendants respectively.

Court papers dated January 28 sighted by our correspondent yesterday indicated that Justice Duwale granted Abdulkadir’s prayer for the restraining of the defendants by themselves, their agents or any other persons acting on their authority from interfering with his (Abdulkadir’s) membership right, privileges and function as the National Vice Chairman, Northwest pending the determination of the case.

The judge also restrained the defendants by themselves, their agents or any other persons acting on their behalf from “doing anything or taking any action in furtherance of the purported vote of no confidence passed calling on the leadership of the 1st defendant/respondent (National Working Committee and National Executive Committee) to remove the plaintiff/applicant from office of the National Vice Chairman, North West Zone of the 1st defendant/respondent pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit No. SS/33/2019 before this court.”

It could be recalled that Abdulkadir was expelled from the party at the ward level (Magaji Gari A) and the expulsion was later upheld by the state and national working committees. He was accused of anti-party activities, sabotage and disloyalty.

Imo chair threatens contempt proceedings against S/East chair

Similarly, the battle over the soul of the APC in Imo has taken a new dimension as the chairman of the party in the state, Dan Nwafor, has threatened to sue the South East Zonal Chairman of the party, Mr. Emma Eneukwu, for his continued recognition of Mr. Marcon Nlemigbo as the chairman of the party in the state despite a court order.

Nwafor, in a letter to Eneukwu, written on his behalf by his counsel, Chidozie Ogunji, drew the attention of the zonal chairman to the judgment of a Federal High Court, with reference no. FHC/OW/CS/69/2018 between Austine Mbagwu and others versus APC, in which the court affirmed the party’s ward, local government, and state congresses that returned Nwafor as the chairman of the party in Imo.

He said that the court had restrained any other person from being recognized as the chairman of the party and expressed regret that the zonal chairman had continued to refer to another person as the chairman of the party in the state in utter disregard for the court judgment.

The letter said inter alia, “Repeatedly you have continued to treat the judgment and the orders of the honourable court with disdain while in your communication, you referred to persons who were not elected as the state chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State. Our client’s simple request is that you obey the dictates of the judgment/order.

“It is most worrisome that despite your party being the beneficiary of a Supreme Court judgment, which returned the mandate to the party, an organ of the party will be treating the judgment with levity.”

Crack in Plateau

In Plateau, one of our correspondents reports that some members of the Executive Committee of the APC have accused the state chairman, Latep Dabang, of using the party, “for personal purposes”.

Some of the party leaders who visited Daily Trust office in Jos said Dabang and the party treasurer have sidelined the remaining 34 executive members, an action that was already creating tension and division in the party.

Our correspondent made several attempts to reach Dabang through phone calls and text messages but the chairman did not respond to any.

But when contacted, the party treasurer, Naanniep Tehlkuk, on the allegation involving him, said it was baseless and was being carried out to tarnish the image of the chairman for surreptitious objective.

Contacted, a presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu declined comment when asked what the president was doing to address the crises as the leader of the party.