There are rumours that some All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftains who are dissatisfied with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party’s presidential candidate, may either stay neutral or work against him in the 2023 election.
According to PulseNets, after the former governor of Lagos State won the APC presidential nomination on June 8, 2022, some party stakeholders split with him.
Remember that Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the party’s national chairman, had named Senate President Ahmad Lawan as the APC’s consensus presidential candidate before the party’s national convention, which elected Asiwaju as its flagbearer.
However, certain governors and party members who were supposed to be loyal to Asiwaju and who insisted on a Southern presidency quickly opposed the proposal.
Similarly, several NWC members opposed the decision and asked that more presidential candidates, such as Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Engineer David Umahi, and Rotimi Amaechi, be permitted to run in the primary.
Ahmad Lawan can now lick his wounds, Tinubu urged him in his victory speech at Eagles Square in Abuja after he was ultimately proclaimed the winner of the indirect primary election.
According to him, “I’m a little agitated that you contested against me, but thank you, you can now lick your wounds.”
Rotimi Amaechi, Tinubu’s closest rival, received 316 votes, falling short of the candidate’s 1,271 total.
The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, allegedly turned down the invitation to join the APC Presidential Campaign Council, according to Dr. Martins Apeh, an APC leader who talked with PulseNets in Abuja on Saturday.
He claims that both Rotimi Amaechi, the former governor of Rivers State, and the vice president have little faith in Tinubu’s candidacy and will withdraw from it.
He said, “You see, Osinbajo believes in the New Nigeria Project, he doesn’t believe in the old politicians who may not have anything to offer to Nigerians but only see power as property that can be acquired.
“When Osinbajo lost the primary election, he stated clearly that his dream to support a New Nigeria has not changed. That should send a message to you and other Nigerians. Don’t be surprised if the VP makes a big announcement to support a candidate of another party”.
Martins stated about the former governor of Rivers State, “Amaechi is still very angry with the party on what played out during the APC primary. It was a shock to him and other Nigerians.”
He said Amaechi, Osinbajo and Lawal “may work for the presidential candidate of another party”, stating that those who want the country to work again will not jeopardize another four years in the “hands of people they don’t believe can deliver”.
The former transport minister, Amaechi, may not accept his position as the Special Adviser on Infrastructure of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, PulseNets previously reported.
Remember that Amaechi stated in Port Harcourt on July 25 that the delegates who supported Tinubu in the APC presidential primaries regretted their choice.
APC presidential primary: Delegates who collected money regretting now — Amaechi
According to Amaechi: “Those who voted at the APC primaries, who are they? They are ordinary Nigerians. The small money they got solved their immediate problem, now they are saying they made a mistake, you are now hearing different things.”
When speaking with our correspondent, another party leader, Mr. Patrick Okwori, claimed that the cabals in the White House were not pleased that Tinubu had won the party’s nomination.
“Even some of us that are trying hard to push our party even to the grassroot levels, we are doing it not because of any candidate but because it is our party and the party must work.
“We have several stakeholders who are not happy that the party is fielding Muslim-Muslim ticket. If either Amaechi of Osinbajo had won the primary, the campaign would have been very easy because they are Christians and getting a Muslim northerner would have been a simple thing”, he added.
