…defends alleged lopsidedness in FEC
…says CPC bloc dominated last administration with 10 Ministers from North West
Ahead 2027 general elections, the crack in the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), one of the legacy parties that merged in 2013 to form the All Progressives Congress (APC), has continued to widen.
Tribune Online checks revealed that about 23 members of Muhammadu Buhari’s CPC bloc met on Wednesday in Abuja where they pledged loyalty to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and denounce moves of defection by certain members of the bloc who have since opened discussion with the Coalition led by former Vice president and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar.
Among those who declared to pitch tent with Tinubu included former Nasarawa state governor, Senator Tanko Al-Makura and the former governor of Buhari’s home state of Katsina, Aminu Bello Masari. Also in the group was former Minority Leader, Honourable Farouk Aliyu.
They were however countered by former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), who in a statement on Thursday, declared that the Al-Makura group could not hold brief for the defunct CPC bloc.
“When you say CPC bloc, one needs to know who they are referring to. Is it the likes of Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, Adamu Adamu, Masari and Faruku Adamu Aliyu who, a few months ago had been throwing Buhari under the bus, in desperate attempts to gain relevance that should decide for the bloc?” Malami queried.
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However, speaking on Arise TV monitored programme, Morning Show, former Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Honourable Farouk Aliyu, who claimed that power blocs no longer exist in the APC, declared that loyalty has since shifted to the new leader of the party and President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He also faulted insinuation that open indictment of Muhammadu Buhari’s administration by certain members of the present administration enjoyed the blessings of President Tinubu.
He said:”First of all, loyalty is to the party first because we belong to a party, APC is our platform and by the grace of God, the leader of APC today is the President! So, our loyalty is both to the President and the party.
“Now, as to whether the President is blaming Muhammadu Buhari for some things that had happened, well, you know in politics there are certain things that you can’t run away from. There are certainly some people who will say some things but that doesn’t mean, …you haven’t ever heard the President in person said anything bad about Buhari or blamed him for anything that has happened. What Nigerians should know is that what is the difference between Buhari and Tinubu? It is same party, same government. So, I want to assure you that there is no discontent between the two leaders . For us that came from the root of Muhammadu Buhari, and now to Tinubu, from CPC to APC. It is a merger we had and we are APC now. So, talking about where we come from isn’t even tenable! We are conscious of what we are doing because certain members of our group are threatening to go.
“One of our prominent leaders left (referring to el Rufai), so we needed to clear, we needed to tell the public that yes, one of us have left but that doesn’t mean that all of us have gone.
“In politics, you can’t stop people from doing whatever they want to do.”
The erstwhile chieftain of the CPC dismissed the allegation of marginalisation of members of his bloc by the present administration, submitting that the group dominated in the eight years of the Buhari administration.
He said: “I don’t know what you mean by our bloc. First of all, we are all APC and in the government of Tinubu, we have five members of the cabinet that are of CPC bloc. Unfortunately, we have to start thinking of Nigeria as one people, one nation, one destiny. When President Buhari was in government, North-western part of the country where Buhari came from had ten Ministers, ten full cabinet Ministers, excluding Ministers of State! Nobody complained!! Now, people are complaining about Tinubu. Let us begin to look at these things as Nigerians, let us give benefit of doubt to the leader. If it doesn’t work, when election comes, they can show him what he has done and why they won’t vote for him, not to go about insulting him. We should be civilized human beings and politicians. The difference between us and the El Rufai group is that we already have a candidate in Tinubu whom we will rally round to continue as President.”
The former lawmaker equally dismissed as subjective, El Rufai’s scathing indictment of the present administration as the most corrupt in the history of the country.
“I think it is very subjective. If Mallam Nasir El-Rufai said Tinubu is very corrupt, APC is the worst government, when did he realize this? Is it because he isn’t a Minister today? This was the same gentleman who rallied round candidate Tinubu first, who insulted all Northern leaders because of Tinubu. Professor Ango Abdullahi who signed the certificate of El Rufai at Ahmadu Bello University, as a leader of the Northern Elders Forum, he insulted him, calling all the Northern leaders, who are the elders? That he is an elder and that whether anybody likes it or not, Tinubu must be elected. God in His infinite mercy answered that prayer and call. Now he was promised to be a Minister and he didn’t become a minister. This is an elitist thing . All the members of the public know that it is about us the elite; when we lose out, we start screaming, because if Nasir were made a Minister, today he would probably be in the forefront of insulting others. That he lost out, he can’t see it as an act of God. The same party that made you governor for eight years. All of a sudden, because you didn’t become a minister, you start insulting everybody.”
Also speaking on the same programme, another member of the defunct CPC bloc, Osita Okechukwu, disclosed a move by the group of 23, to reach out to President Tinubu to ensure that members of the CPC bloc were appeased.
“All we did after our meeting was to set up a subcommittee. One of them was the contact and mobilization committee and we said they should reach Mr President and advised him to address the sufferings of Nigerians and we should also work on our colleagues, former governor El Rufai, Malami, Nwajuiba and others to talk to them and ask them, where are you going? Are you going to join those who dislocated their political parties? You don’t need to go there. “That’s where we are. We said we can’t destroy the house we built.
“We know how El Rufai feels but we are telling him that because of the interest of this great nation and our people, the president has already set the template, for the economic ressurgimento of the country for the greater good, for the greatest number of Nigerians.
“The issue of offices hasn’t finished, tomorrow there could be a change of cabinet and some of us will enter the cabinet. So, why will anyone because of that walk away?”
and then