IN spite of the facade of unity it has presented to the public and assurance to put the war of attrition that trailed the presidential convention behind it, all is still not well among the power blocs in the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Indication of a major rift in the party emerged at the weekend, following the release of names of members that will constitute the presidential campaign team and immediate disavowal of the list by some members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
A member of the NWC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity while disowning the list, said the fact that it was the Presidential Campaign Council and not the party’s leadership that released it showed that something was wrong.
But another member of the NWC dimissed the claim that there were issues there was no issue between NWC members and their presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the 442 Campaign Council team.
National Vice Chairman, South West of the Party, Isaac Kekemeke said this in a telephone interview with Sunday Tribune, amidst claim that the Tinubu Campaign Organisation did not consult the Adamu-led NWC before releasing the list to the public. Kekemeke said there was no rancour between the national working committee and the APC presidential candidate. He said:” There is no crisis; it is mere speculation. If the NWC has strong reservations, the national chairman would have conveyed that position.
“Our party is intact and there is no competition between the party and the presidential candidate. We are on same page. Yes, some individuals may feel disenchanted, that’s normal. But there is no rejection of the Campaign Council List by the NWC.”
In the list of 422-Member APC Presidential Campaign Council released at the weekend in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari is listed as Chairman of the Campaign Council that has the party presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and national chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu as deputy chairman, 1&2, respectively.
But Vice- President Yemi Osinbajo’s name, a presidential aspirant at the June convention where Tinubu emerged as standard-bearer, was missing on the list.
Aside the vice- president, two term Rivers State governor and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi who came second at the presidential convention, was given the role of Adviser, Infrastructure.
Amaechi was the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation in the 2019 general election that ushered in Buhari for a second term in office. Although, the former Minister of Transportation, according to sources in his camp, is said not to be bothered by the apparently slight, one of his aides who spoke with Sunday Tribune in confidence, said their camp is indifferent to the power game in the APC.