APC Convention: Southwest Governors, Chieftains Reject Buhari’s Choice for National Secretary
- The Executive Director, Niger Delta Power Holding, Ife Oyedele, is said to be favoured by the presidency to be the next national secretary of the APC
- Oyedele's choice is, however, facing, opposition from major stakeholders of the ruling party in the southwest
- The party's governors from the region and its national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu are said to be rooting another APC chieftain for the position
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FCT, Abuja - A report by Nigerian Tribune newspapers indicates that southwest governors in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu have rejected the Executive Director, Niger Delta Power Holding, Ife Oyedele, as the next national secretary of the APC.
According to the report, Oyedele who is from Ondo state, is the choice of President Muhammadu Buhari for the position.
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Oyedele who is said to be a staunch loyalist of the president, was a member of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Buhari's political bloc in the APC.
Other contenders for the office are Senator Iyiola Omisore, former minister of communications and governorship candidate of the defunct CPC in Oyo state, Bayo Shittu, and Professor Abideen Olaitan Olaiya.
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While Omisore is from Osun state, the duo of Shittu and Professor Olaiya are from Oyo state.
Sources revealed that between Shittu and Oyedele, the CPC tendency in the APC has since settled for the latter.
Oyedele’s supporters see his endorsement as a reward, a pay-back period for his loyalty and support for President Buhari in his uncertain days of relentless pursuit for the presidency.
The aspirant was a member of the Board of Trustees of the CPC and Ondo state coordinator of the Buhari Campaign Organisation when he emerged in 2014 as APC presidential candidate.
He was also the head of media and publicity committee of Buhari Campaign Council in the state in the run-up to the 2019 presidential election.
The southwest governors have since been informed of a plot to ensure that Oyedele makes the unity list of consensus candidates to be ratified at Eagle Square, venue of the convention.
Southwest governors’ last-minute move to stop Oyedele
The southwest governors are said to be in frantic moves to stop Oyedele, believed to have since enjoyed the blessings of northern governors for the position of the APC’s national secretary.
APC chieftains in the southwest are apprehensive of a situation in which President Buhari will produce both the national chairman and national secretary of the party ahead of the presidential convention.
APC convention: Tinubu, Osinbajo, southwest governors at loggerheads over national secretary position
Recall that a recent report by a national newspaper had claimed that Tinubu is at loggerheads with some APC chieftains in the southwest region of the country over the national secretary position.
According to the report, Tinubu is opposed to the choice of Senator Omisore as the national secretary of the party representing the region.
Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, Governors Kayode Fayemi, and Dapo Abiodun are said to be backing the candidacy of Omisore while Tinubu has the support of former APC interim chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, in opposing the choice of the former Osun state deputy governor.
2023: APC remains the party to beat, says Hope Uzodimma
Meanwhile, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo state has declared that the APC will hold the ace in the forthcoming 2023 presidential election.
The governor made the comment in an interview with Channels TV, monitored by Legit.ng on Monday, March 14.
Uzodimma said APC remains the party to beat and that there is nobody that the Peoples Democratic Party will put forward that the APC will not defeat.
Source: Legit.ng
