THE
battle for the control of the All Progressives Congress (APC) appears
to be taking a fresh dimension following what sources said is the
widening gulf among the contending forces in the build- up to the 2015
general election.
As
things stand in the party, the forces of former Lagos State governor,
Senator Bola Tinubu and former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari
on one hand, are pitted against the progressive governors and the forces
of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
It
was learnt that the last National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of
the party held on May 23 further divided the party and that the gulf
appears to be widening among the stakeholders.
Sources
confirmed that the camp of Senator Tinubu and that of General Buhari
were jolted by the outcome of the NEC, which sidelined their preferred
chairman for the National Convention committee, Alhaji Kawu Baraje.
Buhari
and Tinubu were said to have given indication that Baraje is the choice
for the chairman of the convention, but a plot by the governors saw to
the emergence of Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto.
That plot is now said to be the source of tension that is building in the APC.
A
source said that loyalists of Buhari and Tinubu have described the
decision of the governors as a plot against the founding fathers and a
scheme to hijack the party through the back door.
“The
Buhari and Tinubu camps are angry that the governors are trying to play
the type of game they played in the PDP by moving against the interests
of the founding fathers,” a source said.
The
two camps of the APC leaders are, however, said to be insisting on
retaining the presidential ticket notwithstanding the antics of the
governors.
It
was also said that the Atiku camp is standing by the corner to see
through the emergence of Chief Tom Ikimi as the National Chairman of the
APC.
Atiku
is said to believe that should Ikimi emerge the National Chairman, he
[Atiku] would be in a good position to clinch the presidential ticket of
the party.
A
source said that the two party leaders have actually kept silent to
give the governors the opportunity to save the party, adding that the
governors risk total collapse of the party if they attempt to undo the
presidential ambition of Tinubu and Buhari.
It
was gathered that the duo of Tinubu and Buhari actually wanted to
protest the outcome of the last NEC but decided to give the young turks
another chance.
“Anything
that will threaten the interest of General Buhari and that of Senator
Tinubu is actually aimed at the jugular of the APC and we hope the
governors will not allow that to happen,” a source said.
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