…State Chairmen throw weight behind NWC
…Tinubu yet to draft ministerial nominee list, still consulting — Adamu
As issues of controversies are clogging to generate disgruntlement and discontenment within the camp of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the National Chairman of the Party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu on Monday met with the Chairmen of the State Chapters.
This move is rumoured to be a check by the National Chairman to sustain peace in the party amidst reports that the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu are at loggerheads following the aftermath of the general elections, clustered with contest and lobbying for appointments.
Struggles relating to composition of the National Assembly and State Assemblies leadership, as well as those of appointments both at the federal and state levels, are among the issues clogging up with different interests compounding into crisis within the ruling Party.
Earlier, there had been speculations that both the Senate President and the Speaker are in tandem with President Bola Tinubu to go against the wishes of the National Chairman.
These speculations were fueled by the appointment of principal officers into the National Assembly by President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt.Hon Tajudeen Abass.
Akpabio announced Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, APC, Ekiti Central as the Senate Majority leader and former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, APC, Borno South as the Senate Chief Whip.
Akpabio also announced the names of minority principal officers as follows: Senator Simon Davou (Plateau North – PDP, Minority Leader), Oyewunmi Olarere (Osun West – PDP, Deputy Minority Leader), Darlington Nwokeocha (Abia Central – LP, Minority Whip), Rufai Hanga (Kano Central – NNPP, Deputy Minority Whip), Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Minority Leader), Aliyu Madaki (NNPP, Deputy Minority Leader), Ali Isah (PDP, Minority Whip), and George Ozodinobi (Labour Party, Deputy Minority Whip.
Likewise, at the House of Representatives, Abbas announced: Julius Ihonvbere (APC – Edo, House Majority Leader), Halims Abdullahi (APC – Kogi, Deputy Majority Leader), Bello Kumo (APC – Gombe, Chief Whip), Adewunmi Onanuga (APC – Ogun, Deputy Chief Whip).
Recall that at the meeting with the State Governors last week, Adamu had stirred a controversial wind when he dissociated the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Party from the appointment of principal officers in both chambers of the National Assembly, presumably endorsed by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and his counterpart, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas.
Adamu who in some ways gave account of stewardship to the State Chairmen he met on Monday has been spotted to be a target of dissatisfaction from some quarters with fingers pointed at his refusal to provide an audited report of the Party’s finances over the past year, a development which appeared to have caused wrangling within the NWC.
Addressing the Chairmen, Adamu said, “We thought that having a meeting with those of you as Chairmen who bear the brunt — of course, the Governors are the heads of our Party in the States — but you run the party on a daily basis, and a good blend of understanding between you and the Governors and members of the NWC will go more than the ordinary way in enhancing the kind of leadership that we want to have for the Party.
“Not only that, there will be good understanding if you do know which way we are going at the national level so that we can all hope and go in the same direction with you.
“At the same time, if we noticed there is a problem in the state as we normally do, or if you noticed that there is a problem that’s happening at the national level, it is your duty for you to share with us whether it is at your end or our end, so that together, we can face the issue. That cannot happen unless we have this kind of getting together and meeting from time to time.
“Now, we just came out of an election and we thank God we have been very successful at the election. As at today, we have 20 Governors. We have three off-season elections and by the grace of God, some of them will be coming to APC kitty. That is our hope. And if that happens, we will be having 23. Now, to whom much is given, much is expected. If Nigerians stand up to support the Party the way they have done, we will all be getting the results we are talking about.
“Sometime earlier this month, I must let us know that we had a very fruitful meeting with the State Governors. The essence of the meeting was to brief them on the fact that we are going to have our first National Executive Committee (NEC) since the election of 2023. And it will be the first our President, and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be attending with his Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima.
“We thought it necessary to sit with chief executives of states and the leadership of our Party in various States. We had a very fruitful and one of the longest meetings with the governors,” he stated.
Tinubu yet to draft ministerial nominee list, still consulting — Adamu
Regarding purported appointments intended to be made by the President, Adamu revealed “that President has just started and he is doing his extensive consultations before coming up with his nominees for Ministers.
“The nomination of the Ministers will come first. They will go through their screening until they are pronounced after they have been submitted before Mr. President and Mr President will formally appoint his Ministers and swear them in.
“Only after doing that will he disclose each of them to the Country to know which Minister is going to which Ministry and how many Ministries we are going to have. After that is done, the Ministers assume office and make a comprehensive report from all the MDAs under them before we can know what vacancies exist for Chief Executives, Directors and part-time Directors. These are some of the exercises that will take place within the next two months. It cannot happen by next week but certainly, that is what we should be expecting,” he said.
He added that not all APC members will be appointed to serve in government noting that the next two months the true picture of appointments would become clear, while available vacancies would emerge.
“Every APC member has an inherent right to hope to get some patronage and we cannot all get one here. We cannot all be ministers of government. We cannot all end up as board members, directors of parastatals and MDAs (Ministeries, Departments and Agencies) across the Country. But we do expect some patronage from the government that we are forming.
“It is our hope and prayers that Mr President will come along with us in that regard and strengthen the relationship of the party in the states and the national level will enjoy some level of patronage in the new government,” Adamu said.
Speaking on the rationale of holding the NWC meeting, Adamu said the meeting was to discuss issues of developments in the party and development that would take place.
He recalled that a similar meeting was recently held between the APC NWC and governors elected on the party’s platform where issues of discipline, leadership and the need for harmonious relationship among the party’s stakeholders were discussed.
Adamu, however, advised the State Chairmen to ensure they shared identified problems in their states with the party’s leadership with a view to addressing them, saying it is their responsibility to do so.
…State Chairmen throw weight behind NWC
State Chairmen of the party under the Forum of All Progressives Congress (APC) State Chairmen have dismissed speculations that there is rancour within the party’s rank and file.
The Forum insisted that there is peace and a cordial relationship between the National Chairman and the President.
Mr Alphonsus Oga, the APC Chairman in Cross River and Secretary of the forum, said this on Monday in Abuja while speaking with journalists at the party’s national secretariat.
He spoke at the end of a closed-door meeting between the forum and the APC Sen. Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee (NWC).
“This is a moment where rumours and blackmail can thrive, but as a party, there is only one APC, and we came again in solidarity to say we are strongly behind our National Chairman and the NWC,” he said.
Oga said there was no truth in the ongoing reports that there was rancour within the rank and file of the party, especially with regards to the postponement of its Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.
The party had earlier rescheduled its caucus and NEC meeting for July 10 and 11 to July 18 and 19.
Senator Iyiola Omisore, the party’s National Secretary, while announcing the postponement, explained that the postponement was necessitated by the regional and sub-regional schedules and engagements of President Bola Tinubu, as the new Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
“There is nothing like that, if you have been following the itinerary of the President, he is presently not in the country and he is expected to proceed for another journey.
“This was what necessitated the postponement of the meeting. This is a moment where rumours and blackmail can thrive.
“But as a party, there is only one APC, and we came again in solidarity to say we are strongly behind our national Chairman and the NWC,” he said.
Meanwhile, as the crises grow in ranks, reports have emerged that governors of the APC would be meeting on Tuesday to deliberate on the state of affairs in the Party ahead of the National Caucus and NEC meetings which has been rescheduled.