APC crisis deepens as Tinubu evades peace meeting

The crisis in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is taking a turn for the worse. It was learnt that a meeting scheduled for last week Tuesday to resolve the controversy trailing the September 3 governorship primaries in Ondo State won by the former President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, did not hold.

A source from the party said he was not aware of any meeting scheduled for last Tuesday, but confirmed the one scheduled for today at the instance of the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

We learnt that the National Leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, who is considered central to the issues, tactically evaded the last Tuesday meeting on the excuse of going abroad for a medical treatment.

Tinubu has been having a running battle with Odigie-Oyegun over the Ondo primaries and had openly called for his removal in a published statement.

Akeredolu, who allegedly got the blessings of some APC leaders led by Odigie-Oyegun and some ministers, won the primaries against Mr. Segun Abraham, the alleged preferred candidate of Tinubu. The situation resulted in the defection of Mr. Olusola Oke, one of the APC governorship aspirants, to the Alliance for Democracy (AD) to pursue his ambition.

As the crisis deepens, there is a rumour that the Abuja caucus is supporting Akeredolu while Tinubu, the Lagos chapter and some stakeholders in the South West zone are backing Oke, a development some people have described as anti-party activity perpetrated by the national leader.

It was learnt that whether the reconciliation meeting was to have been held last week or will hold today, Tinubu is not favourably disposed to attending any meeting with Odigie-Oyegun.

An influential party leader in the South West said: “I am not aware of the last Tuesday meeting but I knew that the national chairman called for a meeting for November 8 and the invitation was extended to some leaders including Chief Bisi Akande and Tinubu. What the agenda is, I don’t know but obviously the national leader is currently in Chicago and may definitely not attend the meeting.”