Presidency, APC reach out to Dogara, Galadima
As part of its on-going consultations to form a
formidable coalition against the ruling crisis-ridden All Progressive Congress
(APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is expected to meet with other 34
political parties and representatives of the reformed All Progressive Congress
(RAPC) in Abuja Friday to work out modalities for signing of Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) that will define their relationship.
This came as it was gathered that President
Muhammadu Buhari and his close relations made spirited moves on Wednesday night
to get some leaders of the aggrieved group like, Alhaji Buba Galadima, the
Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and others to pull out
of the coalition against him.
One of the leaders involved in coordinating
formation of the coalition, told THISDAY last night that the fragmentation of
APC by the aggrieved members of APC, which led to the formation of rAPC, under
the leadership of Alhaji Galadima, an estranged ally of President Buhari, was
deliberately carried out in order to make room for many members of the state
and national assemblies to part of the emerging coalition.
The development will now clearly enable aggrieved
members of the APC in the federal and state legislatures to switch allegiance
on the grounds that the party had split into factions.
Announcing the formation of the faction at a
crowded press conference Wednesday at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja,
Galadima said the group had activated its parallel structures from the national
to the ward levels.
‘’The first part of our calculation has been
achieved; there is now a clear division within APC, and that has created room
for many of our members at both state and national assemblies to leave the
party and be part of the emerging platform. Leaders of our group along with
other 34 political parties will be meeting with PDP on Friday for more
consultation’’, the source stated.
‘’In the next one week or so, we will sign MoU that
will spell out our working relationship, how our teeming members and supporters
can be accommodated in PDP at various levels of the party’s structures across
the country.’’
Already, at a personal level, the National Chairman
of PDP, Mr. Uche Secondus, is said to be engaging with leaders of PDP at the
state level, on how the defecting members of RAPC could be accommodated in the
party’s structures at the ward, local government and state levels.
Meanwhile, President Buhari was said to have called
Speaker Dogara on Wednesday night, hoping to get him to change his mind.
THISDAY learnt from an insider that the Speaker
‘’bitterly explained’’ to Buhari how he was humiliated by his state
governor—Buachi State, in the last congresses in the state.
Dogara was quoted as telling the President that his
state governor did not even allow him to produce the ward executives of APC at
his ward in Bauchi State in the last congresses, telling the president that he
had made up his mind along with his group, to seek his political aspiration in
another political platform.
‘’It is not just Speaker Yakubu Dogara alone, the
presidency also called Buba Galadima over 23 times on Wednesday night, when he
got the news of the formation of the reformed All Progressive Congress,
promising him heaven and earth. But the man told him and his agents that he was
not interested in any offer made to him’’, one of the leaders of the group
stated.
However, APC stated yesterday that there is no
faction in the party, apparently in response to Wednesday's emergence of
splinter group, known as rAPC.
In a
statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi,
the party said it is currently studying the situation and will not hesitate to
take lawful actions to defend the unity of the party.
"APC wishes to affirm that there is no faction
in our Party and declares the action by these individuals as mischievous and
ill-advised," it said.
The party alleged that having failed to scuttle the
national convention as was their original plan, these individuals had now
resorted "to this subterfuge as a way of achieving the pre-determined end
of causing confusion."
The statement added that the group of individuals
that announced themselves as ‘Reformed APC at a press conference held in Abuja
were ‘’mischievous.’’
"This is not true. As a matter of fact, we
doubt that these individuals parading as leaders of the so called faction are
actual members of our Party. We are currently investigating their true
membership status within the Party.
"While we shall continue to monitor
developments in this respect; we will not hesitate to take lawful actions to
defend the unity of our Party and protect the sanctity of its identity.
"We are currently reviewing the action of this
so-called faction in order to determine if any aspect of the Party’s
constitution has been breached with the connivance of any of our members.’’
For members who have genuine grievances, APC
assured them of the commitment of the new leadership of the party to address
those grievances as quickly as possible in a manner that will ensure justice.
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