The crisis within the All Progressives Congress over the
choice of candidates for the speakership and the Senate presidency of the 8th
National Assembly deepened on Sunday as candidates not endorsed by the party’s
leadership vowed to contest the elections on Tuesday.
Supporters of Dogara, it was learnt, had petitioned
President Muhammadu Buhari as the party leader to step into the matter.
Meanwhile, despite assertions that it would not be involved
in the unfolding script, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was last
night also mobilising for a strategic alliance with the Saraki and Dogara
tendencies in the APC.
The crisis in the APC was widened at the weekend after some
national officers of the party organised a mock election to pick a candidate
for Senate President and Speaker.
In his absence, Gbajabiamila, the outgoing Minority Leader
of the House, polled 153 votes to the three polled by Dogara. Dogara yesterday
rejected the result, saying that in his absence he could not have been
nominated for what he called a mockery of democracy orchestrated by a few
national officers.
Alleged inference of outside interests
In a statement yesterday, a leading supporter of Dogara’s
group and outgoing chairman of the House Committee on Information, Rep. Zakari
Mohammed, queried the alleged inference of outside interests to project a
favoured candidate.
“Having initially consented to having the process halted,
following our complaint that we were not put on notice that a primary election
was in the offing, we wish to ask who the National Chairman of our party, Chief
John Oyegun, was referring to when after about one hour of the stand-off, he
declared that he was under pressure to conclude the exercise?” Mohammed asked
in a statement issued on behalf of Dogara’s supporters, Consolidated Group.
The assertions were, however, dismissed by Gbajabiamila’s
supporters who dismissed Dogara’s supporters as bereft of the change character
espoused by the new party.
House must be left alone to choose its Speaker
Briefing journalists in Abuja, one of the arrowheads of
Dogara’s Consolidated Group, Rep Abdulmunin Jibrin, APC, Kano, noted that the
stability of the House was paramount and that they would not watch the party
impose a Speaker with tainted records and also subservient to an individual.
He said: “You are aware of the facade called mock election
held by our party on Saturday. The whole exercise was a fraud, it shows that
the party made a mockery of itself. We condemn the election and it was not in
the spirit of the party, we caution the party to tread the part of honour.
“The House must be left alone to choose its Speaker. We will
not allow an individual to pocket the House by having a Speaker that will have
a special bedroom in the House of an individual. We know that we belong to a
party, but when the House takes off, it will now become a House for all
Nigerians.
“We have been intimidated and threatened and because of this
have decided to formally write a petition to the Commander in Chief, President
Muhammadu Buhari, who is the leader of all of us, the leader of the country
including the party for him to intervene on the matter and call the party to
order.”
Answering questions on why he did a volte face by suddenly
campaigning against the candidacy of Gbajabiamila after earlier placing adverts
in support of him, Jibrin said the decision was informed by new information at
his disposal on Gbajabiamila’s past.
“Yes, we explored the possibility of working with Hon. Femi
in the past but when I got information about his record, I backed out,” he said
citing a case in court on the alleged past of Gbajabiamila.
Gbajabiamila camp dismisses assertions
The assertions of Dogara’s Consolidated Group were dismissed
last night by the Femi Gbajabiamila Speakership secretariat in a briefing.
The camp debunked the claims of the Dogara group that they
walked into an ambush at last Saturday straw poll.
A member-elect, Dickson Tarkighir, who spoke on behalf of
the Gbajabiamila’s supporters said: “We wish to thank APC members-elect for the
overwhelming votes they gave to Femi Gbajabiamila at yesterday’s (Saturday)
mock election conducted for the APC members aspiring to be Speaker and Deputy
Speaker of the 8th House of Representatives.
“We are humbled by the show of love and support Hon. Femi
Gbajabiamila has received so far across party lines.
“In furtherance to the genuine aspiration of Hon. Femi
Gbajabiamila, it is appropriate for us to be magnanimous in victory and extend
our hand of fellowship to the 16 of our colleagues who purportedly left the
venue as a result of their claim of unpreparedness for the mock election.
“We are indeed grateful that some of them voluntarily
returned to the hall to be part of the successful election. Just as the party
said earlier before the election, no group loyal to any of the aspirants was
placed on notice.”
Dismissing the Dogara group as lacking the change
credentials or character of the APC, he said: “Definitely, these are not agents
of change. The party gave members-elect the platform to elect a popular candidate
that would represent the party in the House and we are glad that in the end of
that exercise, it was res ipsa loquitur. Had Dogara won the mock election, we
would have all queued behind him now but as a mark of discipline and respect
for the party, we are all behind Femi Gbajabiamila.
“We have reached out to our friends in other apolitical
parties and we are thankful by their popular response.”
National Secretary appeals for unity
On the division in the party, the APC national secretary
last night appealed for unity, saying everyone would find accommodation in the
party.
The party said in a statement in Abuja by its National
Secretary, Mai Mala Buni said: “However, we must put the interest of our party
above personal interests and avoid a situation whereby any other candidates,
apart from those picked by the party, will emerge as Senate President and House
Speaker on Tuesday.
“Any outstanding issues will be resolved by the party, so we
won’t go into Tuesday’s election with more than one candidate each for the two
posts, Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives,” adding that it
would be a shame if, despite its majority in both chambers of the National
Assembly, the APC is unable to produce a Senate President and a House Speaker
of its choice.
APC explained that its role in the entire business of
ensuring a common front within the party ahead of Tuesday’s election is that of
an honest broker, saying its goal of ensuring that the party does not go into
the election with more than one candidate for each post has now been achieved.
The party appealed to all aggrieved members to sheathe their
swords and allow peace to reign, in the overall interest of not just the party
but the entire nation.
Both the Saraki and Dogara camps were, however, rebuffing
the entreaties from the party last night as they were pushing to go to the
floor to determine the leadership contest.
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