Yemi Adedeji, Abuja
The letter written by Bola Tinubu, National Leader of APC, accusing John Odigie-Oyegun, National Chairman of the party of undermining peace efforts, has continued to create division among members of the party’s leadership especially members of the National Working Committee, Elendu Reports has learnt.
This newspaper gathered that some highly placed members of the party believed that the allegations against Oyegun, some of which were contained in a memo signed by the six zonal vice-chairmen which they later denied, were strong enough to pass a no-confidence vote in him.
To douse the tension therefore, leaders of APC are set to hold the caucus and National Executive Council meetings on Monday and Tuesday to find solutions to the internal conflicts rocking the ruling party.
The meeting is also expected to mediate on some seemingly intractable internal wranglings in state chapters of the party, prominent among which include Kano, Kaduna, Kogi and Cross River states.
However, opinion is said to be divided among members of the party’s NWC with respect to allegations contained in Tinubu’s letter to Oyegun.
A member of the NWC who preferred anonymity, said, “We have been warned against turning this whole thing into a media affair but the truth be told, as a party, we can’t afford to allow things to continue like this. There is no sacrifice too much to make to restore order.
Also, another NWC member lamented that the reconciliation in the party appeared complicated.
Another member who spoke on the condition of anonymity queried, “How do you begin a reconciliation process when a governor is demolishing the residence of anyone who disagrees with him?
“Governors are becoming a law unto themselves because we don’t have a strong party capable of ordering them to toe the line and the President appears indifferent.”
Also, a member of the NWC stated categorically that “Most of the opinions expressed in Tinubu’s letter are not new to us.
“If you will recall, some of these things were contained in the memo written to the NWC by the six zonal vice-chairmen which they were latter prevailed upon to step down out of respect for Mr. President and the task of reconciliation he gave to Asiwaju.
“These issues are real. The decision to set up the Tinubu-led committee is an indication that the President is aware that our chairman is incapable of dealing with the issues because he is part of the problem. If we are to take a confidence vote, he won’t survive it.
Asked if a confidence vote is likely to feature, he said, “It is difficult to say. The agenda for such meetings is usually prepared on the go and for such a move to gain traction, you need to buy in the governors and like you know, most of the governors are behind Oyegun.”
But, there are insinuations that NWC members would thread with caution because they believed that removing the chairman would cause more problems than solving the current crisis in the party.
Besides, since the tenure of the current leadership will end in a few months, it is believed it would allowed to serve out their term which officially ends in June after which the national convention should be held to elect a new set of leaders.
