Oshiomhole, Bolaji Abdullahi speak on R-APC, As Saraki’s mobilization of Kwara APC for his exit thickens

*A blind man can redeem his eyes if he applies the correct medication, but you can’t force it to open overnight – Oshiomhole warns nPDP threatening exit

*He says forcing the eyes to open overnight will call more damages for the blind

*R-APC targeting Buhari, Oshiomhole, watch well before talking with them, Respondents APC

*Say the only nPDP, R-APC threats are for Saraki alone

*Add: Senate President will stop at nothing over his desperation

*As Kwrara “APC” tell him, “Lead us to a better party”

*Say IBB, Obasanjo political godfathers of SP’s latest design

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has appealed to aggrieved members of the party to be patient with his leadership, in an apparent response to the emergence on Wednesday of a rebel faction, Reformed APC (R-APC).

In the same vein, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the party would review the claims and actions of the rebel group and reply accordingly.

The APC national chairman spoke to journalists after receiving the report of the party’s just concluded National Convention Appeal Panel Committee’s report on Wednesday.

Alhaji Buba Galadima, who is the National Chairman of the rebel group that tagged itself Reformed APC, announced its formation at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

But Oshiomhole said, “My appeal to all those who are aggrieved is to be patient”.

He said, “The assurance is that under my leadership, we will make honest mistakes and once our attention is drawn, we will find courage to make up for our mistake.

“Some people say how can people eat their words? For me, I will eat my words if it is nutritious enough and if that is what I have to do to have peace in the family.”

He expressed appreciation to members of the party for his election and for entrusting with him, the responsibility to pilot the party’s affairs at this time.

He acknowledged that he knew of the party’s challenges before accepting the task, saying that it was a huge opportunity for him and other newly elected executives of the party to make a difference.

This, Comrade Oshiomhole said, was not only for the party, but for the generality of the country.

“So, I appeal to people to realise that a blind man can redeem his eyes if he applies the correct medication, but you can’t force it to open overnight,” he said.

He added that forcing the eyes to open overnight, would create more problems and damage the eye the more.

The APC national chairman maintained that he would do everything possible to sustain confidence and trust, adding that everybody was important in the party.

He also said everybody in the party matters, adding that he would run an inclusive party.

“I pray for wisdom and courage and I believe that we have it and we will deploy it for peace within the APC family, Comrade Oshiomhole said.

Oshiomhole’s emergence as APC national chairman at the recently held national convention was one of the issues raised by the “Reformed APC” as being improper.

The faction alleged that Comrade Oshiomhole and 17 other delegates were elected without the input of delegates at the convention.

“It is therefore unquestionably clear that the 18 officers of APC that was “Elected” through this process could not have been duly elected,” Galadima said in his press statement.

In his reaction to the “Reformed APC” and its allegations, the APC spokesperson, Bolaji Abudullahi, said the party leadership would need to get the full details of what happened.

“We have report of a group of who have purportedly described themselves as a faction of our party. We will be able to give our reaction as soon as we get the full details and have the opportunity to review it,” he said.

R-APC is nPDP design to stampede Oshiomhole, Buhari – Respondents

Some of our respondents have warned that, while Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is right to make sure that everybody in the party matters, he should also not lose sight of the fact that the crop of politicians who are the only ones, who have suddenly recently remembered that they are a bloc in APC four years after all founding and joining parties had permanently agreed to collapse without being mentioned again, are up for something.

One of them warned, “If you look at the sudden re-emergence of nPDP as it appears, you would recall that it is merely a response to Bukola Saraki’s desperation to get a footing against the anti-corruption and fight against insecurity of the Muhammadu Buhari-led APC Federal Government.  You will see that Saraki has found himself in tight corner and he must fight a battle of his life.  So, if you look at it very well, he has tried death wishes against Buhari, he has tried impeachment of the President, he has tried he be declared Acting President, he has tried quit, he has thought APC convention would fail so he defect without relinquishing his position, all of those efforts failed.

“Buba Galadima that is never PDP but has never supported APC government for one day is now a working tool that is helping Saraki attempt to collapse APC by no longer wanting to move out but stay within and claim to a faction to justify the defection of the Senate President, whose Chief of Staff Hakeem Baba-Ahmed only three days ago dumped the party but did not resign his position and yet Saraki has been pleased with that.

“So, let President Buhari, Oshiomhole and all major political giants within the APC note the areas I have pointed at in their effort to resolve the grievances of these so-called aggrieved members of the governing party.  I assure you that the only aggrieved member of the APC is Saraki.  All others including Kawu Baraje are just a supporting team to give him a footing.  If you look at the group of aggrieved they are mainly senators.  Why do you think illegal N13.5 million will not have impact?” He warned.

He said the Senate President will stop at nothing to get out of the APC as he described public statements of Saraki as mere deceit, “all the public statements at meeting with Oshiomhole, Buhari are mere political statements and we do not need politicians who play politics with our lives any longer but those who agree in their hearts that our collective good is reason for their being in politics.”

Saraki’s mobilization for his exit thickens as, Kwara APC asks him to “lead us to a better party”

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State have expressed their desire to leave the party.

They have asked Senate President Bukola Saraki, who is the leader of the party in the state, to lead them out of the party to a better one.

The leaders made their position known on Wednesday through the chairmen of the party in the three senatorial districts of the state.

The chairmen – Isiaka Oniwa (Kwara North), Jimoh Adesina (Kwara Central), and Jimoh Balogun (Kwara South) – said the APC has failed to meet their yearnings after labouring tirelessly for it in 2015.

Balogun, who spoke on behalf of the chairmen, said the expectations of the people had not been met since the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari commenced, and that the APC has failed people in the state and beyond.

He said they were determined to quit the party if the wrongs were not corrected, “even if Senate President Bukola Saraki insists on staying in APC.”

Balogun, who alleged political victimisation of Saraki in APC, said their call on the Senate president was a warning signal to the APC hierarchy to make amends and right some perceived wrongs in the party.

He said, “Now that another election is on the way, Kwara has considered it fit to implore Saraki to take us to a formidable party that would address the plight of the people if the ruling APC refuses to redeem its campaign promises.

“The perpetual persecution, humiliation, and wanton destruction of the personality of the Senate president has been on the increase daily. This has almost made him lose focus on his good intentions for the country.

“Dr. Saraki had contributed immensely to the empowerment and well-being of the people of the state, yet he was recently accused of sponsoring a gang of robbers that robbed banks in Offa, Offa Local Government Area of the state. This is a calculated attempt to drag his name in the mud.

“The recent calculated attempt to disrupt the peace at the National Assembly is another eloquent testimony to destroy the person of the Senate president. This unwholesome treatment is unwarranted and uncalled for.

“The Senate president delivered the entire Kwara State to the APC. The three senators from the state at the National Assembly are APC members, the state government is controlled by APC, all members of the House of Representatives are APC, and the 16 local government chairmen, 24 members of the House of Assembly are APC, including the 193 councillors, apart from his contributions to other states of the federation won by the APC.”

The present political development is coming at a time when members of the New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), a formidable faction in the APC, is perfecting plans to return to the PDP.

The nPDP announced their exit from the party on Wednesday, ahead of their expected declaration for PDP.

The New PDP, or New APC – as they would now be called – has come full circle and is expected to create a major upset in the ruling party like it did in the runoff to the 2015 election which bolstered the electoral chances of the APC, then the major opposition.

Led by Abubakar Kawu Baraje, a former acting National Chairman of the PDP, the New PDP had broken out of the then ruling party in September 2013, over unresolved disagreements with the leadership.

It had within its fold former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, about 26 senators and seven governors. The parent party has yet to recover from the break-up.

The present agitation in the APC reared its head soon after the sharing of offices in the new government in 2015 but it climaxed recently when in May the APC power bloc complained of being sidelined in the party and by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, despite their contributions to the APC victory at the 2015 general elections.

It called for a meeting with party leaders to address the complaints of its members.

The nPDP later met with the national executives of the APC to discuss their differences.

It was expected to meet President Muhammadu Buhari after the meeting with party leaders, but the presidency cancelled the meeting on the grounds that the grievances of the bloc were a party affair.

Nevertheless, the presidency had a second thought and announced the next day that it would meet the bloc in order to intervene in the smouldering conflict in the ruling APC.

The president was to meet Baraje’s men after they had met and discussed with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

It would seem that the various attempts to resolve the rift failed, intensified mainly by the outcome of the congresses and convention which further drove a wedge between the leadership and dissenting voices in the party.

Besides Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, the bloc includes former governors of Sokoto, Aliyu Wamakko; Kano, Rabiu Kwankwaso; Kwara, Abdulfatah Ahmed; Adamawa, Murtala Nyako.

Others are former governors of Kebbi, Adamu Aliero; Gombe, Danjuma Goje; Osun, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; ex-Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Already, a faction of the APC in Kaduna, led by Senator Shehu Sani, has announced its intention to pull out of the party, ruling out the possibility of reconciliation.

“To Saraki, he is so confident that with former rulers Ibrahim and Obasanjo behind him, his plots against President Buhari’s government and APC are a done deal.  But only the time will tell,” respondent revealed.