Informed sources at the presidential Villa on Tuesday morning revealed to The Liberation News that President Muhammadu Buhari sent a stern warning to the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, to bridle his tongue and abstain from further embarrassment of his administration.
Buhari reportedly gave the warning after Adamu announced Senate President Ahmed Lawan as consensus candidate in the ongoing APC presidential primaries.
Top contenders in the poll are: former Lagos State Governor and APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; ex-Transport Minister and former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi; former governor of Ogun State and serving senator representing Ogun Central, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello; his Ebonyi State counterpart, Dave Umagi, and Lawan.
It was gathered that Buhari complained bitterly that Adamu is pursuing a self-serving agenda, which runs contrary to the expected neutrality of his office, under the circumstance.
“The President is particularly not pleased with Adamu’s utterance which suggested that he, Buhari, had endorsed Lawan whereas he was not anything near such an arrangement.
“Adamu’s vituperation thus forced President Buhari to publicly come out and say he was not in support of any contestant and that anybody who wins in the primaries receives his blessing,” the source who craved for anonymity owing to the sensitivity of the issue, hinted.
The source further revealed that Buhari had earlier urged the aspirants to meet and arrive on a consensus candidate, but when the suggestion met with brickwalls as some aspirants are unwilling to step down, he had no other choice than to see them go to primaries.
In the same vein, the APC governors also on Monday condemned Adamu for spreading the falsehood that Lawan is consensus presidential candidate.
The APC governors put a lie to Adamu’s claim.
Rising in opposition to the APC National chairman’s pronouncement, the Chairman of Southern Governors’ Forum and Ondo State governor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu stated that the APC national chairman took a flight of fancy with his statement and as such deserved to be put back on track.
Akeredolu stated, “My attention has just been drawn to the expensive joke purportedly enacted by the National Chairman of APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.
“The speculation is rife that the Chairman took a flight of fancy and decided to make a pronouncement beyond his competence. He has, allegedly, made public his preferred choice as the candidate of the APC for the Office of the President in the next general elections.
“This alleged pronouncement runs contrary to the position of majority of Northern Governors in APC and their counterparts in the South.”
Akeredolu added that the party’s agreement was unanimous in that, the office of the President should be contested for by qualified persons from the Southern part of the country if the move to get a consensus candidate fails and that here has been no shift from this settled issue.
“Let it be known that the Chairman or anyone who holds a contrary opinion does so at a personal level. He is at best embarking on a frolic which reasonable people will consider dangerous.
“We are grieving but have not forgotten that Power MUST shift to the south. On this we stand, the Ondo governor stressed.
Complementing the governors, a group, Bola Ahmed Tinubu Admirers’ Movement (BATAM), said Adamu had virtually put the party on fire, by his statement.
The group, in a statement by its President, Mr. Ibikunle Solana, said, “The announcement of Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan as the consensus candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, by its National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu came to us, and indeed, most Nigerians as a rude shock. His announcement has put the party on fire”.
It added: “It is however, gratifying to note that the Progressives Northern governors Forum has rejected the selfish and illegal decision. Even President Mohammadu Buhari has distanced himself from the hand-picking of the Senate President.
“Our members have been expressing serious concern about the issue. BATAM rejects the consensus candidate and the idea of consensus at this stage. Let the aspirants test their popularity at the primary. Whoever emerges will be acceptable by all.
Therefore, BATAM urges its members globally to calm down.
As far as BATAM is concerned, Senator Abdullahi Adamu merely expressed his personal opinion.
“He is on his own in respect of this unpopular, divisive and destructive decision. What a cabal within the APC is doing now is capable of destroying the party.
“It is quite obvious that the National Chairman is not playing his expected role as an unbias umpire. It is clear that he is bias. Unlike President Buhari, he has shown that he is not for everybody and for nobody. His actions and body languages in recent times have revealed that he became APC Chairman to achieve a pre-determined objective which is gradually unfolding.
“It will be recalled that few days ago, Senator Adamu, while reacting to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s speech in Abeokuta, vowed that APC will punish Jagaban. It is now clear that this is one of the ways he believes they will punish him. Unknown to him, from the looks of things, they will end up punishing APC and themselves. Fortunately, Adamu and his cabal still have enough time to make amends. They can still rescind their unpopular and vexatious decision and and consequently apologise to members and other Nigerians.”
Already, snippets, from the Eagle Square APC primaries venue in Abuja indicated that Tinubu is far ahead of other candidates as investigations revealed that he indeed, controls the highest number of delegates from the four northern zones.
He also reportedly controls the party structures in the South-West, part of South-South and part of South-East, thus signalling his eventual emergence as APC presidential flagbearer.
Sources also informed that a dazed VP Osinbajo had reached out to the General Overseer of his Church, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enock Adeboye, to help him appeal to Tinubu for forgiveness, having realised that he was not supposed to have contested against Tinubu, his benefactor.
But one of the sources, who spoke with The Liberation News on condition of anonymity, contended that Osinbajo needs not be dismayed over the backlash of his action, knowing that Tinubu has a large heart and had forgiven people who similarly betrayed him in the past.
“The VP, after getting people to plead with his political father (Tinubu), should just put his mind at rest because the Tinubu we know is not vindictive,” the source prodded.
