Factions of the All Progressives Congress in several states that are loyal to some ministers and senators are set to lose out as the APC has perfected plans to inaugurate state chairmen loyal to the governors at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Thursday (today).
Some of the losers include the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola; the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo; and the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
Others who lost out include former Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, Senator Kabiru Marafa, and a former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdul’Aziz Yari’.
Several state chapters had been divided into factions due to the controversial congresses conducted late last year. However, the national leadership of the party is now set to inaugurate chairmen who are loyal to the governors except in Kano State.
It was learnt that the chairmen from at least 30 states had already arrived in Abuja ahead of their inauguration.
A Punch correspondent who visited the party headquarters on Blantyre Street, Wuse 2, Abuja, reported heavy police presence around the secretariat. The arrangement, it was learnt, was put in place to prevent any breakdown of law and order especially if aggrieved elements stage protests.
Some of the states witnessing crises include Osun, Ogun, Kwara, Kebbi, Kano, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bauchi and Zamfara. In some of these states, factions have gone to court, seeking to be recognized as the authentic ones.
However, Wednesday began on a dramatic note as Aregbesola, who had been engaged in a feud with his successor, Gboyega Oyetola, lost out. A Federal High Court in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, refused to recognize Aregbesola’s faction as the authentic one.
Justice Emmanuel Ayoola dismissed an application brought before it by Aregbesola’s loyalists, citing a lack of jurisdiction. The Judge ruled that the plaintiffs’ application was not covered by the law and could not be adjudicated by any competent court of law. Ayoola said the suit brought before the court was strictly party affairs, and the court lacked jurisdiction on the matter.
When contacted, the chairman of Aregbesola’s faction in Osun APC, Alhaji Rasaq Salinsile, said it was not clear yet who would be inaugurated by the national leadership as Osun state APC chairman.
Speaking with The PUNCH on Wednesday, Salinsile simply said, “As it is not clear to you, it is not clear to us who will be inaugurated. But let’s keep our fingers crossed.”
But when contacted, the Special Adviser to the Osun governor on Political Affairs, Sunday Akere, said there was no contention about the post of chairman of APC in the state, adding that the Prince Gboyega Famoodun would be inaugurated by the national leadership of APC.
“No contention about who is the chairman of APC in the state. Prince Gboyega Famoodun will be inaugurated by the national leadership of the party,” Akere said.
