They claimed Tinubu and Abdullahi Adamu, party’s national chairman, have isolated critical stakeholders of the party. A northern ranking senator alleged that Adamu, who was supported by lawmakers when governors did not want him, betrayed them during the primaries.
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From Fred Itua in Abuja
Critical stakeholders, former presidential aspirants and senators who lost out in the just-concluded primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC), have vowed to punish the party, ahead of the 2023 presidential elections.
They claimed Tinubu and Abdullahi Adamu, party’s national chairman, have isolated critical stakeholders of the party.
A northern ranking senator alleged that Adamu, who was supported by lawmakers when governors did not want him, betrayed them during the primaries.
He said Adamu runs the party “like a sole administrator and paramount ruler” who does not accommodate superior views from members of the National Working Committee (NWC).
The lawmaker said the presidential candidate has refused to reach out to aggrieved aspirants who ran against him.
“As soon as the primaries were over, Tinubu visited all the key aspirants. Commitments were made that they’ll be involved before, during and after the elections.
“I attended one of the meetings where Tinubu told one of the former presidential aspirants that he will play an active role. That promise has turned out to be false.
“Tinubu has since gone ahead to announce the choice of his running mate without consulting any of them. The aspirants have also decided to ignore him.
“Tinubu and Adamu are busy organising events. They’re leaving out the real issue. They’re behaving as of they’ve won the elections. For them, aggrieved members and stakeholders can go to hell.
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They believe only governors and President Muhammadu will deliver votes for them. Unfortunately, many APC senators didn’t get return tickets and they’ve no stakes in the upcoming elections. They won’t take it serious. The President Buhari they’re banking on won’t campaign for anybody. Let’s see who will campaign for them at the grassroots level.”
The senator said ahead of the conduct of the 2023 presidential elections, the two leading political parties, APC and the opposition PDP, were fretting over the unpredictable demographics, occasioned by the surge in the popularity of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP).
Obi, former governor of Anambra State, was the running mate to Atiku Abubakar in the 2019 presidential elections. Until a few days to the conduct of the PDP presidential primaries in May, Obi was a leading aspirant on the platform of the party.
However, since his emergence as presidential candidate of the LP and following the announcement by the presidential candidate of APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to run on a Muslim-Muslim ticket, the permutations have changed.
In a chat with Daily Sun at the weekend, the ranking senator from the North, said Obi’s late entry into the race and his acceptance by the Church and youths portend a serious threat to Atiku and Tinubu.
The lawmaker, who is vehemently opposed to a Muslim-Muslim ticket, said if Obi’s surging popularity does not dwindle, APC may not win Lagos State.
He said the same thing goes for the PDP in the South East and South South- two geopolitical zones hitherto considered as its strongholds.
He said APC’s dilemma is severe. “APC may lose the entire South as a result of a Muslim-Muslim ticket. APC today can’t win any state in the South East or South South. If elections are held today, APC will not win Lagos State. If the party is lucky, it may win in Ekiti and Ogun. In Osun, Ondo and Oyo, the PDP will battle the APC. That leaves the APC with limited options.
“President Muhammadu Buhari will not be on the ballot in 2023. That means Atiku will be the first choice of the North. Atiku will win in the North East. He will win too in North West because of a large number of Hausa and Fulani there.
“PDP’s main foot soldiers are in North Central. APC is not sure of winning that geopolitical zone. It is more difficult now because of the new Electoral Act. The era of writing results in Government House is gone. If votes count, APC will be in trouble.
“As for the PDP, how can Atiku win if the entire South East and South South don’t vote for him? As popular as Buhari was, he lost elections three times until the South voted for him.
“These are the issues. I doubt if Obi will win. I don’t see that possibility, but he is causing serious upset in the two major parties- APC and the PDP.”
Though the senator admitted that he was not in a position to speak on the crisis rocking the PDP, he, however, said the issues maybe resolved before the end of August.
•Text, except headline, courtesy of SUN newspaper
