All seem to be well with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) until recently when the OshiomholeMustGo crusade took centre stage in the affairs and the narrative of discussion of the Party itself. Since then it has been “new week, new trouble” for the APC.
The troubles within the APC seem to be beyond President Buhari himself who is even having family problems to attend to, thus far as he keeps referring Party members to the Constitution of the Party, in resolving its conflicts.
The President even said to the Party leaders during a recent meeting that if they want to remove Oshiomhole from Office as National Chairman, they can go ahead and do so, by following due process as enshrined in the Party constitution.
The events in recent times point clearly to show that the ranks within the APC are at daggers-drawn with themselves. The recent non-renewal of Tunde Fowler’s tenure as Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) boss on grounds that his tenure has expired and the removal of Muiz Banire as Chairman of Asset Management Corporations of Nigeria (AMCON) are signs that show clearly that there is an ongoing course to reduce, if not to completely eliminate Tinubu’s influence and image-by-proxy presence from the table of power, ahead of 2023.
If the President’s men and the President himself had Fowler in their good books, by their precedents, expiry of tenure is not enough grounds to relieve him of his duties. This is a Government that has its Service Chiefs tenure expired but yet have them retained in their various Offices till date, so if not for some political colouring, why was Tunde Fowler’s case treated differently?
Muiz Banire was removed, citing some new adjustment in procedures or laws, the question is, which day did this Government start following laws? A Government that is struggling with “rule of law”? Far from it! Politics is involved at least a bit, Mr Tinubu has been technically edged out of the scheme of things at the table of power. But Tinubu is a master political strategist versed in the art of strategic timing; he definitely has something up his sleeves concerning the ongoing development.
The current travails of Adams Oshiomhole seem to have gotten some respite recently as it was uncovered that some Governors who want to hijack the All Progressives Congress (APC) with a bid to install one of them as President Buhari’s successor are the actual brains behind #OshiomholeMustGo. One prominent among them as exposed by a co-Governor who is in the know, Governor Zulum of Borno State, is Governor El-Rufai of Kaduna State.
Oshiomhole in a desperate bid to further cement his sit-tight in office, has caused the Partys NWC to announce the lifting of suspension placed on some former governors and party stalwarts like Ibikunle Amosun, Rochas Okorocha, Osita Okechukwu etc.
With this development, Oshiomhole can now heave a momentary sigh of relief. For sure his traducers will not just back out, they see him as a threat, that is why there are protests against him. For now, the warring parties will move back to the drawing board, marking time and strategy and waiting for the best time to strike again. The stakes in 2023 is just too high for either party to relent.
But will the APC ship survive the storm? Time will tell.