Some governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have threatened to sabotage the presidential campaign of their party and its candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in their respective states.
The Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), which is the umbrella body of the APC governors, is said to be angry that Tinubu ignored their nominees in constituting the 422-member presidential campaign council, which was announced over the weekend.
As reported by PREMIUM TIMES, in compiling the list, the party’s leadership contacted the governors through the PGF secretariat to nominate five individuals each in their respective states to be members of the presidential campaign council.
The governors were however stunned to see that Tinubu and the party ignored their nominations and replaced them with others from their respective states without consulting them.
Top officials in the party told PREMIUM TIMES that the governors had been inundating the PGF Chairman, Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu, the APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, and the Director-General of the PGF secretariat with complaints over the constitution of the campaign council.
In one instance, the officials said Cross River Governor Ben Ayade vowed not to participate in campaigning for the presidential candidate “since the party leaders have proven to know more than him in his state”.
The governor had submitted names of individuals he believed would effectively mobilise voters for the presidential candidate in the state. But he was surprised that none of the persons he nominated were named by the party. Ayade was a presidential aspirant in the party primary in June.
“The Governor of Kwara, Abdulrahman Abdulrazak, is complaining that he submitted five names but he had seen only one appearance on the list. The governor said Kwara has seven persons on the list and all of them are from the same local government”, said an insider.
Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, who appeared on the list as the South West campaign coordinator, also complained to the party’s leadership that the names of individuals he nominated were ignored. Akeredolu has been one of the strong pillars rooting for Tinubu before and after he emerged the APC presidential candidate.
“If the list is authentic, it means that the party and the candidate are not serious about the campaign. We believe that at the state, electoral influence resides with the governors and If the governors nominated people to the campaign council and they were ignored, it means there is danger”, the source said.
In the northern region, some APC governors are fuming that Tinubu failed to carry them along in the campaign. The fear of the governors is that “the APC presidential candidate does not trust anyone of them apart from those around him,” the source said.
The governors, especially in the North West, believe that their political future is not secured in Tinubu’s hands, accusing him of sidelining them. They believe his handling of the campaign council list has suggested he lacks respect for the Governors’ Forum.
The situation is believed to be creating an opportunity for the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to strategise for the backing of the North West APC governors.
The governors from that zone, particularly, are said to be threatening to withdraw their support should they continue to be disregarded.
Contacted, the Secretary of the campaign council, Hon. James Faleke declined calls placed to his line by PREMIUM TIMES. He also failed to respond to a text message inquiring about efforts being made by the party to stem the looming sabotage.
The 2023 presidential campaign officially commences on Wednesday.
Credit: PREMIUM TIMES
2023: APC shifts presidential campaign kickoff - Breezy News Nigeria
27 September 2022 at 3:27 pm
[…] Governors and some other stakeholders of the party had protested against the 422-member campaign council, which they said did not include many of their nominees. […]