THE tension rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) heightened on Friday as the chairman of the newly formed Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC), Alhaji Buba Galadima, boasted that his faction now controls the majority in the National Assembly, stressing that it (R-APC) will determine who emerges the next president come 2019.
Galadima said this on an African Independent Television (AIT) interview programme, Kaakaki, monitored by Saturday Tribune, which was in reaction to a statement credited to the new National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, on the formation of the R-APC.
The former governor of Edo State had on Thursday taken a swipe at the group, stating that he would not lose sleep over the decision of the splinter faction to break away.
He described members of the aggrieved group as “hired mercenaries” with self-serving purpose.
Galadima, however, said on Friday that the R-APC had the number and the capacity to determine the direction of politics in Nigeria and would prove it with the next general election.
“Today, if we give directives to the National Assembly that anyone should be impeached, that will be done because we have the majority in the National Assembly.
“Those who said they would not lose any sleep over R-APC, why are they going from pillar to post begging the National Assembly? If they think that we don’t matter, then we will teach them lessons. We will tell them that Nigeria and Nigerians matter.
“We will decide the next President of Nigeria. I assure you that we have the edge,” he boasted.
Asked whether it was not already too late to make an impact, he said: “One day is enough for a politician. If we are not important, they don’t have to worry – but they are sponsoring people to attack us on the social media.”
He, however, would not give details of how the group would determine who wins the next election, asking “why should I lay down my arsenals for the enemy to know?”
Galadima alleged that the President had misplaced his priorities and shown lack of will to address issues that posed threats to the party.
Asked what had gone wrong, particularly with his friendship with President Muhammadu Buhari, he said: “Maybe with him, not with me. Buhari is supposed to be the party leader. The President asked the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) to come and see him. When they got to the villa, he directed them to see the Vice President.
“I had been with him when all these charlatans were not around. We sold our properties to support him.”
On the anti-corruption programme of the government, Galadima said Buhari ought to “focus on preventing corruption instead of saying he is fighting corruption. What he is doing is like a policeman standing in a corner, waiting for a driver to commit a crime so that he can then arrest him.”
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