By Ogochukwu Isioma
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Mr. John Mayaki, has blamed President Muhammadu Buhari for the party’s recent electoral defeats both in Edo and Osun States.
metrowatchxtra reports that the Peoples Democratic Party’s Governorship candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, had at the Saturday’s Osun State election crushed APC’s candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, the incumbent governor, to be elected Governor.
In Edo, this Online Medium recalls that the APC had lost the state in the 2020 gubernatorial polls after its governor, Godwin Obaseki left the party amid fights with his former benefactor Adams Oshiomhole. Obaseki would later dump the party and defeat Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the APC candidate, to win re-election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.
In a statement on Sunday, Mayaki blamed the party’s loses in both states on Buhari, accusing the president of “negligent management of party activities and ‘suicidal’ tolerance of anti-party activities within the ranks.”
Mayaki, who chaired the Media Council of the Edo APC in the 2020 guber poll, maintained that although the President’s non-interference through the infamous ‘federal might’ represents a good development for the country’s democracy, “it still doesn’t excuse the observed abandonment of his obligations as the leader of the party who ought to be spearheading efforts to unite the ranks, enforce loyalty, and expand political control.”
He warned that unless the President changes tack, his ‘look the other way’ approach to party issues may complicate the party’s chances in 2023.
Mayaki said: “The anti-party activities of top ranking APC members, governors and Ministers under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is to blame for the electoral misfortune of the party in Edo and Osun states.
“Poor reward system of the party and that of the president, if not checked, could impact negatively on the party just as the “I don’t care attitude” of Mr. President as a party man. The president is the leader of the party and he doesn’t appear concerned if the party collapses under his watch.
“In Edo State, we have a deformed Assembly lacking the inclusion of the majority because duly elected Members are yet to be inaugurated. Mr. President has shown no serious concern about this dangerous development, despite the fact that the affected parties are all members of the party he leads.
“Under President Buhari, APC governors worked against the party in Edo state similar to how figures in his cabinet have been fingered in the loss of Osun state. But Mr. President won’t lift a finger to either reprimand these party saboteurs, instead he signals tolerance that further emboldens them.”
Mayaki also criticized President Buhari’s refusal to sack non-performing members of his cabinets and government who, according to him, have shown themselves incapable of bringing an end to the insecurity that plagues the country.
He urged bold management, advising the President to learn party leadership from former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The APC chieftain encouraged party members in Osun State to learn the necessary lessons from the defeat and work harder toward delivering Bola Tinubu, the party’s standard bearer in the next year’s presidential election.
He also warned the opposition Peoples Democratic Party not to “delude themselves into believing that taking Osun means winning the presidency as it is a different ballgame entirely.”
