● …. those loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari have distanced themselves from the move
● …. it is becoming an impossible task for the aggrieved governors to carry out their mission owing to the backing of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party’s National Leader, who had instructed governors loyal to him not to support the move.
The alleged plot to sack Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, embattled national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has driven a wedge in the relationship between governors elected on the platform of the party, it has been gathered.
The governors, who operate under the aegis of Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF), are sharply divided on the issue as those loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari have distanced themselves from the move.
A meeting of the governors called by the chairman of PGF, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, on Wednesday, at the Imo Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro failed to materialise as many of the governors decided to boycott it.
According to a credible source, out of the 21-member group, only Okorocha, Governor Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa, Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun and Governor Abdul’aziz Yari of Zamfara who is the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) attended the meeting.
It was gathered that the meeting could not yield any positive results as the governors need “at least two third of their members to append signatures for Oshiomhole’s removal”.
According to him, it is becoming an impossible task for the aggrieved governors to carry out their mission owing to the backing of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party’s National Leader, who had instructed governors loyal to him not to support the move.
He also added that Governor Yahaya Bello, one of the anti-Oshiomhole governors also opted out of the move because of his loyalty to President Buhari who on his part has declared full support for the embattled chairman.
“At this stage, I believe the plot to remove the chairman has failed. This is simply because majority of the governors who initially supported the move have opted out while others believe the issues between the aggrieved governors are personal and as such, they should resolve it with the chairman personally.
“I believe there is a sharp division between the PGF now because they have always acted in solidarity with one another. This will be the first time that Okorocha, the chairman will summon a meeting and majority of the governors decided to stay away.
“I believe the meeting failed to yield results because many of the key stakeholders are not involved. How can you remove a national chairman without the support of the President and Commander-in-Chief? How can you remove a national chairman without the support of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu? Even Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi, who is loyal to the immediate past national chairman, Chief John Oyegun, is now on the side of Oshiomhole simply because President Buhari prefers him”, he said.
However, despite the failed meeting, it was gathered that the aggrieved governors are not giving up and are exploring other means to ensure that they get Oshiomhole out of office.
One of the moves is to get their loyalists in the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) which is already divided to pass a vote of no confidence on Oshiomhole.
“Yes, that is another option but only few of the NWC members such as Lawal Shaibu, the Deputy National Chairman (North); Emma Ibediro, the National Organising Secretary; Alhaji Mustapha Salihu, the National Vice-Chairman (North- East) are against Oshiomhole. Others are on the same page with him”, he said.
However, speaking in a chat, Babatunde Ogala, the party’s National Legal Adviser, denied the existence of any crisis in the NWC.
He said, “On the NWC that I sit on, I am not aware of any crisis. If there is crisis as alleged, I would not be sitting comfortably in my office in Lagos here granting this interview.
“In the NWC, there are 21 members representing various interests, different states, different expectations, different functions, and different homes. Naturally, you can’t have any debate that there won’t be disagreements, but we will all agree at some point. You win some, you will lose some”, he said.