APC Crisis: Why Former Presidential Aspirants Snubbed Tinubu, Stakeholders’ Meeting
BY EDMOND ODOK – Perceived impudence by the organisers and mute discontentment among invitees have emerged as part of the reasons for the botched meeting of the 21 former presidential aspirants of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja with the Party’s standard bearer for the 2023 elections, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Insiders hinted that despite the seeming pre-event publicity, the organisers are accused of demonstrating aloofness and clearly having no personal touch in reaching out to all those invited and expected to attend the meeting.
“It is not surprising that things boiled over and came to the open with former aspirants snubbing the Abuja engagement that was actually conceived as a peace meeting by the APC leadership and the Tinubu’s camp”, one of the insiders volunteered.
Offering further insight, the source said; “it was unfortunate a meeting of such magnitude that expected to have in attendance the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, Five State Governors, Cross River, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Jigawa and Kogi, former Transportation Minister, Rotimi Ameachi; former Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu among other notable names, could be arranged with such frivolity and obviously in an off-handed manner.”
“For a purported reconciliation meeting meant to provide a platform for fence-mending with all those who contested the presidential primary in June this year, the Party and Tinubu’s Campaign Organisation should have done better rather than the publicity stun that seems their main interest and focus from the onset”, the competent source added.
It was reliably gathered that indications the planned meeting would not hold had emerged early on when none of the expected guests, except one, officially acknowledged the invites sent to them for the event. But the organisers felt the Presidency and the Party leadership would “pull their weight to make things happen”.
However, with obvious disappointment staring them in the face, the organisers had no choice but to hurriedly announce the meeting’s postponement which one of the former aspirants, Dr Nicolas Felix, stated in a statement on Monday, was to ensure the party wins the February 2023 presidential election.
Dr Felix, whom another insider painted as the odd man out, had earlier said in his statement on the meeting that; “We will also brainstorm on adopting winning campaign strategies to support our standard-bearer, Bola Tinubu, and seek to carry every Nigerian along in our bid to coast home to victory in the 2023 general elections.”
But a few hours before its scheduled commencement, Felix did the yeoman’s job of announcing the meeting’s postponement, stating that a new date would be announced.
“Please be informed that the strategic meeting of 2023 Presidential Aspirants of the All Progressives Congress, scheduled to hold on Wednesday the 31st of August has been postponed”, Felix’s statement said.
The sudden postponement of the meeting has however got tongues wagging about disquiets within the ruling party over what some stakeholders described as “unresolved issues around the choice of the vice-presidential candidate; constitution of the Campaign Committee, lack of consultations with the former aspirants; and the apparent over-bearing attitude of those calling themselves ‘authentic Batists’ in the Tinubu’s camp” among others
Sources privy to ongoing developments in the party noted that the botched meeting, scheduled for 2:00 pm at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, was another missed opportunity by the APC to further close ranks amid subdued anger within the ruling party.
They were confident that had the meeting taken place, the former aspirants were expected to “brainstorm, iron out grievances, tabled their demands, extract necessary concessions, and come up with viable strategies” to support the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
