Yemisi Izuora.
A coalition of 25 ethnic groups with active membership in the All Progressives Congress (APC), under the aegis APC National Vanguard, at the weekend said it had uncovered fifth columnists working for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 general elections.
The organisation said that although the key actors were not interested in joining PDP for now, there is a grand plot to cause crisis that would lead to the disintegration of APC.
Among those behind the new scheme include the National Leader of APC and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is also said to be championing the division.
The position of APC-NV, was contained in a communique issued after its emergency meeting held in Abuja with over 100 participants.
The communique was signed by its zonal coordinators – Abdulrazaq Tewogbade (South West); Clarence Temple (South South); Frederick Nwabueze (South East); Stephen Onche (North Central); Mustapha Ngotho (North West); and Mohammed Dambazzau (North East).
They wondered why a key actor in Nigerian politics in the calibre of Tinubu would embark on an ambiguous adventure to destroy the house he built.
According to them, the recent letter by Tinubu to President Muhammadu Buhari in which he laid many accusations against the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun were least expected of a nationalist and elder statesman like him.
The APC-NV said all that could be deduced from his Letter to President Buhari, was that “Tinubu is acting out a pre-planned agenda to sack Chief Oyegun as APC National Chairman before the forthcoming national convention of the party scheduled for June 2018.”
“With the successful removal of the party Chairman, President Buhari’s re- election bid may be put to jeopardy. Reliable sources in Tinubu’s political camp have confirmed to us that there is a plot by a faction of the PDP and Asiwaju to create chaos and discord within the APC”, the APC-NV stated.
Part of the communique reads: “Politics should be played without bitterness, envy and acrimony, recent events in our party, APC have proved the contrary. It is surprising that our great party is being thrown into further crisis by those who should protect our interest and ensure unity because a house divided against itself cannot stand.
“Otherwise, why would somebody entrusted with the mission of reconciling aggrieved parties to pave way for APC national convention be throwing stones in a glass house? Our independent investigations have revealed that Tinubu is working for the opposition parties and PDP to cause crisis that would lead to the sudden death of APC.
“We have it on good authority that some PDP members have scheduled a meeting with Tinubu next week in the United Kingdom. We commend the maturity of Odigie-Oyegun and his response.
“After President Buhari entrusted with the assignment of reconciling members of APC, we would have expected that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu would go about the task with tact and humility.
But to the contrary, the first thing he did was to create more discord within the party by going after constituted authority of the APC.
“The question to ask is : from where does Asiwaju derive his authority? In whose interest is he creating crisis? Does the task of reconciling aggrieved party members convey any authority on him to attempt to discredit the party chairman in public domain? We believe the evil people among us won’t go unpunished.”