Opposition mounts as Buhari ‘reunites’ with APC leader
We’re waiting for Tinubu to fulfill Ige’s prediction – Loyalists
Another testy time looms in the ruling All Progressives Congress, as the crisis rocking the party may soon result in the revival of the comatose Alliance for Democracy, a party that once dominated the South West geo-political zone, under the supervision of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere.
The AD, which is to be revived and reorganised, will witness much mobilisation of members in the first quarter of next year and is expected to use the Osun State governorship election as a launching pad, an impeccable source, craving anonymity, informed The Point.
The source noted that the reformation of the AD followed various acts of betrayal reportedly suffered by the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, from supposed loyalists working in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
These are the people who were unknown politically and even one of them was picked up from the gutter; but because they are now in Buhari’s cabinet or got elected through the help of Asiwaju into positions either as governor, lawmaker or party officer, they now think the best way to pay back Asiwaju is to play him Judas and reduce him to political irrelevance
“If Asiwaju Tinubu now leads us back to the AD, this will be the fulfilment of a 16-year-old prediction, that, ‘in the fullness of time, there will be alignment and realignment of political forces in Yorubaland’,” the source said.
That quoted statement, now taken as a prediction in some circles, was made way back in 2001 by a chieftain of the AD, Chief Bola Ige, then Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. He spoke at Iye, the Ekiti State country-home of one of the party’s eminent leaders, Chief Ayo Fasanmi.
In what might be a gradual move to resolve lingering disagreements he had with surviving owners of the AD, and thus reintegrate himself into the party, Tinubu recently paid a widely publicised visit to the Leader of Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, in Akure, Ondo State.
Fashoranti, a nonagenarian, is a former Commissioner for Finance in the Second Republic administration of Governor Adekunle Ajasin in Ondo State and he is one of the founding fathers of both Afenifere and the AD.
Two weeks ago, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar also left the APC for his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party, in what was seen as a bad omen for the APC come 2019.
FALLOUT OF TINUBU, FASORANTI MEETING
The National Secretary, Afenifere, Chief Seinde Arogbofa, a renowned author and retired educationist, it was gathered, brokered the Akure meeting between Fasoranti and Tinubu.
Journalists were not allowed into the venue of the meeting while those in attendance were thoroughly screened.
A source at the meeting revealed that Tinubu jokingly ordered the Acting Chairman of the APC in Ondo state, Mr. Ade Adetimehin, to remove the Hausa/Fulani cap he was wearing, since issues to be discussed were purely Yoruba affairs.
The former governor of Lagos State reportedly lamented that the political fortunes of the Yoruba race always went down whenever there was any major crisis among its leaders.
The source said Tinubu also lamented that northern politicians were fond of using their counterparts in the South West as ladders for the actualisation of their political ambition.
He was said to have pleaded with Afenifere leaders to forget the past and close ranks with a view to regaining “the enviable position of the region in the politics of the country.”
It was the first visit of Tinubu to Fasoranti since the emergence of the elder statesman as Afenifere leader, as there had been a major crisis among the Yoruba leaders since 1999, which polarised Afenifere into groups.
But Tinubu said he was in Akure to acknowledge Fasoranti as the leader of the Yoruba race.
“I am in Akure to acknowledge the leadership of Pa Fasoranti of our own race. He is a great leader of the Omoluwabi (the well-mannered breed). In his evening, we want him to be happy. He has been a great leader since his youth. His intellect is still very intact. To seek his advice, to seek his understanding and prayers, that is why I am here,” Tinubu had said.
Fasoranti also replied that the visit of the former Lagos State governor was the beginning of good things in the South West.
“The implication of Tinubu’s visit is that it is the beginning of great things to come – the coming together of Yoruba leaders, and there will be an understanding. Things will move faster than before. As it is now, we are small groups. With this meeting, there is an understanding. There will be an understanding on major issues. We meet, we will resolve and move ahead,” he had said.
Sources close to the Akure meeting further revealed that the game-plan ahead of 2019 was to re-position the AD and make it a vibrant, South West party once more; and upon regaining its regional strength, it will now serve as ‘a beautiful bride’ in the formation of an alliance for the purpose of electing a President for the country.
“But the first calculation is to ensure that we produce all the South West governors once again, and then become a power bloc,” a source, who was at the closed-door meeting, said.
Gang-up by ‘Buhari Boys’
A top source within the ruling APC, who justified Tinubu’s latest political move, said he could not have done otherwise, as he had not found fulfilment in the APC. Most of the people who once detoured to him, he said, had now abandoned him, having formed themselves into a caucus known as ‘Buhari Boys.’
“These are the people who were unknown politically and even one of them was picked up from the gutter; but because they are now in Buhari’s cabinet or got elected through the help of Asiwaju into positions either as governor, lawmaker or party officer, they now think the best way to pay back Asiwaju is to play him Judas and reduce him to political irrelevance,” the source lamented.
Sources also traced Tinubu’s boredom and disillusionment in the APC to the circumvention of his efforts to determine the leadership of both arms of the National Assembly, during which his preferred candidates for positions of principal officers lost out.
The same thing reportedly played out in the Kogi and Ondo governorship elections, where Tinubu’s candidates were said to have been checkmated by the ‘Buhari Boys’ mafia, who were determined to whittle down the influence of Tinubu.
The said mafia is believed to be controlled by the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, and parades supposed Tinubu loyalists such as the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; his Mines and Steel Development counterpart, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; and the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. Others cited in the group are Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State; Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State; Senate President Bukola Saraki; and Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, among others.
Bello’s disagreement with Tinubu, sources said, is traceable to the fallout of the last governorship contest in Kogi, in which Tinubu backed James Faleke as successor to Audu Abubakar, the party’s governorship candidate, who died during the election.
Bello, who came second in the party’s primary election, was picked as governorship candidate, as against Faleke, who was Abubakar’s running mate.
Further to the Kogi incident, Tinubu was said to have been disappointed with the role played by the APC National Chairman, Chief Odigie-Oyegun, whose leadership went for a Bello candidature. Faleke contested the decision up to the Supreme Court but lost.
Also in Ondo State, Tinubu, during the 2016 governorship race, had some tiff with Odigie-Oyegun. He had accused him of perverting justice in the manner he sent the name of Rotimi Akeredolu to the Independent National Electoral Commission, despite the fact that the party’s governorship primary was contentious.
Tinubu, it was gathered, did not back an Akeredolu candidature based on what sources described as the former’s sore experience with Akeredolu during the 2012 Ondo governorship poll.
An aide to Tinubu, who also craved anonymity, revealed to The Point, “During that period, Asiwaju sponsored Akeredolu for governor, not knowing he was a mole and childhood friend of sitting Governor Segun Mimiko. All the resources committed by Asiwaju into the election thus went down the drain, as certain sums went into private pockets, giving Mimiko an easy ride into his second term.
“So, it was only natural that Asiwaju should not support the same man for another election, being a case of ‘once beaten, twice shy.’ We all know that Mimiko connived with the Buhari Boys to make Akeredolu emerge at the APC primary, thus turning his PDP candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, to a mere guinea pig.”
Already, Dr. Segun Abraham, a governorship contestant, reportedly backed by Tinubu at the APC primary election in Ondo, is in court, contesting the choice of Akeredolu as governor of the state.
Though, Tinubu’s power is respected in Kogi State here, but let me tell you, our people do not want anything to do with him. They believe he was the one that was influencing Faleke. And you know, this has even made him and the governor not to be in good politic
OPPOSITION MOUNTS AS BUHARI REUNITES WITH TINUBU
Findings by our correspondent revealed that a recent move by President Buhari reportedly aimed at wooing Tinubu back, with the fact that another election beckons in 2019, is being quietly frustrated by the former Lagos governor’s political enemies currently in power. Buhari had expressed delight that Tinubu told him “things that I did not know before”, a comment that reportedly unsettled Tinubu’s haters.
His detractors, it was learnt, were outraged recently when the President travelled with Tinubu for the European Summit meeting, knowing the import of the new camaraderie.
A source at the Senate recently told our correspondent, “The President himself appreciates the weight of Tinubu’s political prowess; hence the need to clinch him at this pertinent period. You can see that Buhari has been involving him in various activities, including travelling. And apart from this, the two of them have been having various meetings and we know it’s all about 2019.”
When asked if the former governor’s antagonists had the capacity to once again make Tinubu unwanted by the President, the source replied, “The President is the head of government and he can decide many things as he likes.”
It was, however, gathered that the development has made “Tinubu’s foes” to start early work at their various states’ level, to ensure that “his mightiness is curtailed.”
In Kogi State, a chieftain of the party from Lokoja, Mr. Tajudeen Ajenomo, told our correspondent that some of the party’s stalwarts in the state were not in good terms with Tinubu and his supporters in the state.
According to him, the issue is not unconnected with political activities deriving from the last governorship election in the state.
“Though, Tinubu’s power is respected in Kogi State here, but let me tell you, our people do not want anything to do with him. They believe he was the one that was influencing Faleke. And you know, this has even made him and the governor not to be in good political terms,” Ajenomo said.
Meanwhile, an anonymous source in Bello’s administration also told our correspondent that “Governor Yahaya Bello is ready to influence his political allies in the APC against Tinubu and his candidates in the coming political dispensation.”
The Chairman, APC, Ekiti State, Chief Jide Awe, however, said, “There are many things going on in our party, which outsiders don’t know about.
“As I speak with you, the rift between Asiwaju Tinubu and our people in Ekiti has been settled. With the development in our party, we are as strong as whatever you can imagine. The rift between Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Kayode Fayemi with Otunba Niyi Adebayo, has been settled. Whoever believes they are still fighting is still living in the past. What is pertinent to us now is how to develop our people and win Ekiti State back into the fold of APC, and by God’s grace, we are going to win.”
AMOSUN READY TO TACKLE TINUBU IN OGUN
Meanwhile, in Ogun State, both the APC and PDP are ready to combine forces to combat the supremacy of Bola Tinubu.
It was learnt that Governor Amosun is determined to ensure that a Tinubu candidate does not become his successor come 2019.
There are also indications that the Ogun State chapter of the opposition PDP may team up with the APC in the state to frustrate an alleged plan by Tinubu to impose his anointed candidate in 2019.
Already, there are speculations that Tinubu has ‘anointed’ the Senator currently representing Lagos West in the National Assembly, Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, as his candidate for the 2019 governorship election in Ogun.
Adeola and his supporters in the state have since embarked on subtle campaigns for the Ogun governorship seat in the next general elections.
The lawmaker is also from Ogun West, a zone to which the 2019 governorship slot has been conceded.
But Governor Amosun, said to be opposed to Tinubu’s alleged plan, has vowed not to hand over the reins of governance in the state to any politician not based in the state.
Amosun had, at a meeting with the leaders of Ogun West -Senator Adeola’s homestead, said that no politician from outside the state would succeed him as governor.
Our correspondent, however, gathered that the PDP in the state had begun moves to work with the Governor Amosun-led APC to ensure that Tinubu’s political tentacles did not spread to Ogun in 2019.
Confirming this development, a former chairman of the PDP in Ogun, Elder Joju Fadairo, told our correspondent that his party was ready to work with the ruling APC in the state to stop Tinubu from “imposing his anointed foreign candidate as governor on the people of the state in the 2019 poll.”
Fadairo argued that it would amount to the enslavement of the people of the state if a politician who had not been practising in the state, emerged the governor
in 2019.
“It is an aberration for somebody who is not a participant in Ogun State politics to come from abroad or anywhere and say he wants to be our governor. That is unacceptable to me, the governor, and any reasonable person in Ogun State. You cannot ask somebody we don’t know to come and rule us. We are not going to take that,” he fumed.
But Tinubu’s spokesman, Mr. Tunde Rahman, declined to comment on the matter, when contacted by our correspondent on
Sunday.
Rahman in a terse reply to an SMS message earlier sent to his phone, said, “Please, speak with those you claim are moving to revive the party. They will know better why they are doing so, if indeed they are doing so.”
*Additional report from Wande Ojo (Akure)
