5. It was my fervent hope that the emergence of the APC would bring to an end the sad and bitter experiences that I and some others endured in the ACN where one of the leaders from the South West exploiting the narrow National success of the party in that region virtually hijacked the party, proclaiming himself Overall Leader. Five of the six Governors in the Party at that time were all from that Region. Prominent leaders particularly from the North and South East notably, personalities such as former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, Alhaji Gali Naaba, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, Alhaji Mohammed Shata, Amb. Yahaya Kwande, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, Otumba Fashawe, Senator Ben Obi, Chief Dubem Onyia etc who could not come to terms with the mans behavior departed from the party back to the PDP. This mass departure of prominent members, from particular sections of the country, did not only seriously weaken the party but blemished it with an image of Regional and Tribal status. At that time I refused to quit the party despite the fact that my frequent solo protests against his behavior were dismissively ignored as I was always told that the man was the overwhelming financier of the Party. While I disagree stoutly with this bluff it is true that the particular individual constantly boasted of his wealth and of his funding of the party. I on the other hand could recall that this was a man I knew who was an easily forgettable character in the 1990s when I was National Party Chairman and when my candidate Sir Michael Otedola of blessed memory, won the Governorship of Lagos State. It would come as no great surprise if Asiwaju Bola Tinubus boasted great wealth did not derive from any stupendous inheritance ancient or modern. Or that his sudden bragging as though Nigerias Bill Gates is an accumulation of extraordinary hard work or financial wizardry. I would rather trust the informed whispers in the inner circles of the party which have it that having positioned himself as perceived leader in the most lucrative income sources of the party, he is recipient and dispenser of bags and bags of party funds. I am also become aware that he is, too, a beneficiary of most of the lucrative contracts in all the ACN states without exception. To further bolster his image it was also frequently said that Tinubu has control of all the votes from South Western Nigeria which, as has been currently touted, when added to the votes of North Western Nigeria would guarantee victory for the APC in the upcoming Presidential election. 6. This reckless and arrogant self-aggrandizement paved the way for the imposition of a strange leadership on the APC in July 2013 when the party obtained registration from INEC. Those of us who had worked so hard towards the successful merger and creation of the APC were manipulated out of the scheme of things. In the bizarre struggle to seize control of the party we were even openly accused by the self-proclaimed owners of the party, of wanting to steal their party. Many of us in the party as well as keen observers outside frowned at the skewed leadership image of the party that was being paraded. An image that blatantly ignored National sensitivities. The draft constitution prepared by the Merger Committee included an exit clause, which provided a time limit of six months for the Interim Management of the Party. That clause mysteriously disappeared from the version of the constitution that was smuggled into INEC records. Chief Bisi Akandes National Chairmanship was therefore primed to stay on in power ad infinitum! Asiwaju Bola Tinubu frantically constituted a group of friends and cronies which he proclaimed to be the APC Leadership. The press, led by the Nation Newspaper, was made to propagate the aberration. And so rather than allow the construction of a sound base for the party conducive to the free admission of members Nationwide these self proclaimed leaders embarked on a National travel spree all in a blaze of publicity, criss-crossing the country in private aircraft, visiting PDP State Governors to offer them the State branches of the APC if they would join the party. While they obviously but ridiculously assumed that the crisis then in the PDP would last for ever the details of the agreements they reached with PDP break away Governors, were never revealed to the authentic Party Leadership but they were such that they ignited the explosion of irreconcilable crisis in some states, particularly Kano, Sokoto and Adamawa, resulting in the instant loss of some valuable key members.
Posted on: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 11:01:49 +0000
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