APC Crisis: Oyegun, Lai Mohammed may be first casualties

APC Crisis: Oyegun, Lai Mohammed may be first casualties

The crisis that has engulfed the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), even before General Muhammadu Buhari names his cabinet, may soon claim its first victims, Pointblank News has learnt.The predictable storm which has already fractured the party, at least at the National Assembly, may consume the party in no distant future if urgent moves are not made.

Two prime targets are the national Chairman of the APC, Chief Odigie Oyegun and Party Spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who are considered to have angered party chieftains.

Even one of the party’s top brass , Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said it two weeks ago after the Bukola Saraki’s ‘coup’ at the NASS that embarrassed the party and gave Tinubu a black eye.

He had said “Unless an urgent reconciliation is put in place, the anti-party activities which led to Saraki’s Senate Presidency might cause a prolong crisis in the party. And with plans by the APC leadership to enforce discipline, some leaders might call it quit with the party,”

Political commentator, Levinus Nwabughiogu captured it thus “It is a baptism of fire. It is happening early. No one anticipated it. They tried to cover it but it leaked out. They also tried to manage it, but it is escalating. And now, there is palpable aggression and deep seated animosity within…The development has divided APC leaders. And the blame game continues. Was it really a marriage of convenience that bought the APC leaders together in the first place? These are questions popping up now amid the crisis rocking the APC. Make no mistakes about it, all is not well for the APC. Not at the moment. The reason is simple. The party lost the National Assembly leadership elections. Did I say the party? It is not really the party but some powerful persons in the party? How did this happen”

Interestingly, some top members of the party are blaming two key actors for the mess in the party, and they appear to be the first victims, because they are calling for their sack. It is also on record that Tinubu had blamed Buhari for the crisis as well for what he called the President’s “ aloofness” before the National Assembly showdown.

According to Tinubu “The President may need to assert himself by playing a fatherly role to reunite his political platform that is in tatters. When some leaders met with the President after the coup in the Senate, he was said to ‘be hollow’ without a solution to the crisis at hand. The time to act is now…Despite the choice of National Assembly leaders being a mixture of party politics and legislative duty, the aloofness, or the perceived neutrality of the President allowed the ‘fight’ within APC to fester until it went of hand.”

The Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Timi Frank is leading the call for the sack of Oyegun and his boss Mohammed. But Oyegun and Mohammed are fighting back.

Frank and his co travelers blame Oyegun for the mock election which cost the party the Deputy Senate President. He is being accused of not being man enough to resist overtures by powerful forces to conduct the mock election against the wish of the majority.

Frank maintained that With this incident alone, the Chairman should resign from his position after taking a position ( mock election ) against the people and the people’s position has finally come to stay.” But Oyegun who admitted his party has disappointed the Nigerian people however kicked back saying “A lot of people felt anguish in different form, we made mistakes and there is no arguing about that. I take responsibility for what has happened, but I don’t take the blame.”

He also indicted Mohammed. His argument is, it was wrong for the spokesman to go on national television and say the President is not the leader of the party. He said “Let’s go back and ask Lai Mohammed who the leader of the party is if he does not recognize the President as the leader. In my own view, If Lai Mohammed that is my direct boss could come up to tell Nigerians that the President is only a product of the party and not the national leader of the party, then he should have been able to tell us who the leader of the party is”.

A rather bemused Mohammed simply responded to his subordinate “Just ignore him. I said it in the context that Buhari is the leader of the whole of Nigeria, not just of my party. That is why I said I don’t want to react to Timi Frank. I don’t even want to answer him”

Frank insisted “Not just the National Chairman but also the entire leadership that took this decision of conducting mock election against the outcry of the larger members of the party. Against the bigger picture of Nigerians, a handful of the party leadership came to take a decision, and, by today, the people have shown that the voice of the people is the voice of God. You could see the way the party, including the National Chairman, was speaking before the NASS leadership elections. It showed clearly that the Chairman had totally taken sides which wasn’t meant to be. “

It seems Oyegun and Mohammed are still not sure of what to do next. Sources told Pointblanknews.com that both men are not sitting comfortably. Meanwhile At the moment, Oyegun and Mohammed are in a fix. They are torn between the camps of the majority party members controlled apparently by Atiku and the President Buhari, unsure of which camp to join.

For instance, According to Sunday Vanguard, Oyegun, last weekend, had a meeting with Atiku where he pleaded that Gbajabimila should be made the Majority Leader of the House. But that request was a bitter pill to swallow by many northern elements in the APC who argued that the South West has got the Vice President and the Deputy Speaker.

Tinubu too is not sitting pretty as the hawks around the President are insisting he is kept at a distance. Last week reports say his portrait at the party’s national secretariat had been taken down. It is still not clear who directed it.

-Pointblank News