More facts have emerged on why former Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu, and former governor of Osun State Chief Bisi Akande boycotted the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party yesterday. A member of the National Working Committee (NWC) who was at the meeting said the former Lagos State governor was aware that there were plans to humiliate him and his henchmen.
“Tinubu knew that some people were prepared to fight him. He would have been humiliated by some people”, the official said.He disclosed that the earlier arrangement was to engage him in a brawl and compel him to leave the venue of the meeting in anger.
“Those who were to humiliate him were on ground but his absence saved the day”, the APC chieftain added.He stated that the party leadership, sensing how rancorous the meeting may be , tinkered with the idea of barring journalists from covering it.
According to him, the earlier plans were that photojournalists would be given five to 10 minutes to take pictures of the opening session and leave the scene. He said
“we tinkered with the plans of barring journalists from covering the event. We knew that anything could happen but we didn’t want to be ridiculed in the public.”According to the source, Buhari’s men know that former Lagos State governor and his men want APC chairman Oyegun out because they didn’t succeed in “encircling the President with Tinubu’s men”.
He said “the President’s men refused to buy into the campaign that the National Chairman was compromised by Saraki. They didn’t see any evidence to that effect. Rather they believe that those who want him out were angry that that their agenda of encircling the president failed.
“They were angry that Oyegun was called up at 4am by forces from Lagos to do a dirty job. They even dropped the name of the President in all those dirty jobs. Instead of apologising to Mr President for lying with his name they are insisting that the National Chairman must go.”
He said the party should be “happy that PDP did not elect one of its own senate president. Saraki saved the party because there was nothing we would have done if they had elected one of their own as senate president. They formed a quorum, we were lucky that it did not go into their head to elect one of their own as senate president. And the mistake was because somebody in his desperation to have everything lied that the President called a meeting and took our lawmakers to a place they were not supposed to be.”
On the side of Atiku’s loyalists, it was gathered that they were against the removal of Oyegun because they were determined to cut Tinubu to size.
The source said “the other tendency which is loyal to the former Vice President does not want the structure of the party changed. It is against allowing Tinubu to take everything or call the shot in APC. It believes that the Vice President is a product of Tinubu and that should be enough for him.”
He continued “both Buhari’s men and that of Atiku worked together to save Oyegun. However, I don’t think the fight is over, it may be the beginning”.
Source: The Sun
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