Ahead
of 2019 general elections, the moribund Alliance for Democracy (AD) may be the
political haven for associates of embattled National Leader of the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
it is believed that except President Muhammadu Buhari and well-meaning stakeholders
in the ruling party take concrete and genuine steps to placate the former Lagos
State governor, his allies may ditch the party for the AD.
A
party source revealed that Tinubu’s camp may have opened discussions with
stakeholders of the platform that brought him to power in 1999.
The
party source noted that the forthcoming Ondo State governorship election would
be used to test the waters.
The
rejection of the recommendations of the
three-member Election Appeal Committee chaired by Mrs. Helen Bendega, which
called for cancellation of the poll that produced Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN),
and the submission of his name to INEC by the National Chairman, Chief John
Odigie-Oyegun was the cause of the cold war betweenTinubu and the latter.
Tinubu,
while demanding for the resignation of Odigie-Oyegun, accused the former Edo
State governor of treating with disdain the joint petition written by Chiefs
Oke, Olusegun Abraham and Senator Ajayi Borrofice rejecting the outcome of the
primary that produced Akeredolu.
While
the national leader backed Abraham for the ticket, forces in the Presidency
supported Akeredolu, who was president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA).
Daily
Sun gathered that Tinubu’s associates were taken aback that while President
Buhari invited the National Chairman of the party to the Presidential Villa on
Tuesday, he has not made any move to open discussion with Tinubu.
It
also learnt that the APC leader’s allies may have initiated a deal aimed at
reconciling with certain aggrieved leaders of the Yoruba socio-cultural
group, Afenifere, who were ditched
during the power game to insulate the AD from
the Afenifere.
In
the vanguard of those who insisted that
Afenifere and AD should not be mutually inclusive were Tinubu, Chief
Olusegun Osoba, the late Lam Adesina, Chief Bisi Akande, former governors of
Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Osun states respectively. While the late Ondo State
governor, Adebayo Adefarati backed the leadership of Afenifere, the former Ekiti State governor,
Niyi Adebayo sat on the fence.
Among
those who fell out with Tinubu and other AD governors in league with him, were the Afenifere
leader, Chief Abraham Adesanya (now late), Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Olaniwun Ajayi
and Reuben Fasoranti. The struggle to separate
Afenifere from the control of the political party also culminated in the
polarisation of the Yoruba group into two factions with Chief Fasanmi and
Fasoranti as factional chairmen.
Speaking
with Daily Sun on phone, Tinubu’s media aide, Tunde Rahman, however, refused to
comment. He said: “Who are those making the insinuations? Let them justify what
they are saying. I don’t want to react to that!”
But
in his reaction, a member of the
Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, neither denied nor confirmed the
reconciliation moves. He told Daily Sun that there was urgent need for the
Yoruba to speak with one voice, noting noted that it was the desire of
Afenifere as a group.
“I
am not yet in the picture; what we know is that we are for peace and unity in
Yorubalnd. The details of such talks, I
can’t tell you, but Afenifere’s desire is for strong realignment in
Yorubaland”.
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