There were many intricate issues that dogged the unveiling of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, as well as the manifesto of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the presidential standard bearer.
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Faleke, who serves as the Secretary of the PCC, is a known Tinubu footsoldier. The Kogi State-born politician represents Ikeja federal constituency in the House of Representatives. Some members of the party’s Progressive Governors’ Forum , who played key roles in the dismantling of the Oshiomhole-led NWC and imposition of the Governor Mai Mala Buni’s disputed Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, alleged that a possible witchhunt was afoot in the emerging political scenario.
The horse-trading and shadow boxing that trailed the preparations for the APC special convention and presidential primary did not predicate or predispose the party to a possible Tinubu triumph. Yet, against all odds, the former Lagos State political maestro handed a surprise defeat to the favoured co-contenders and picked the ticket.
It was therefore the perception that Tinubu was preparing to prosecute a vengeful presidency that the PGF actors and Presidency insiders decided to prevail on the APC NWC to call the former Lagos State governor to order. Senator Adamu’s letter was therefore a covert artifice to use the APC structure as a powerful restraint to whatever devices that Tinubu was scheming to deploy against his perceived rivals and detractors.
The next approach adopted by the Tinubu camp to fighting off the negative connotations of the APC national chairman’s letter was to situate it as fake news that did not represent the official positions of the party and Adamu. Oshiomhole, who did not explain the rationale behind the drafting of the letter, declared that in as much as the letter was not properly signed off and actually approved for transmission, it remains a fake specimen.
Expectedly, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party challenged APC to run on President Buhari’s records and the party’s achievements in the last seven years, noting that Tinubu should not depend on the cumulative governance record of two other administrations in Lagos State. “The presidential candidate and APC are currently working on an all-embracing manifesto that will inspire the confidence of Nigerians.”
Both the PGF and NWC of APC still look at the party’s presidential candidate with some suspicion, as they grumble that Tinubu would be hard to handle as President and Commander-in-Chief.