Akande moving to remove APC Chair Adamu-Group
Not true, says Akande loyalist
By Tunde Opalana
As crisis rocking the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) rages, a group within the party has linked the former governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande. to a plot to remove the party’s National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, from office.
The group alleged that the elder statesman, who was pioneer Interim National Chairman of APC, and some persons in the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party were trying to cause disunity in the party by mobilizing forces to remove Adamu from office.
The Asiwaju Champion Group, an APC support group that claimed to have worked for the emergence of President Bola Tinubu, raised the alarm on what it described as sinister plot by Chief Akande as well as some “minority dissident” members of the NWC to destroy the relative peace that has trailed the overwhelming victory of the party in the 2023 General Elections.
But, speaking to Daily Times, in a swift reaction, a chieftain of APC in Osun State and Akande loyalist, dismissed the scenario as ”untrue”, saying the respected APC former National Chairman cannot engage in actions likely to breed chaos in the party he co-formed.
In a statement yesterday, signed by its Director General (DG), Professor Ahmed Yakubu, the group accused Akande of allegedly enlisting “political renegades” in the NWC to collect signatures in order to pass a vote of no confidence on Sen. Adamu.
The statement read: “It is unfortunate that Baba Akande who should be an elder statesman is the one trying to blackmail an unyielding President Tinubu to remove the Chairman of the party who just saw the party through the most difficult election we have had since the return to democracy.”
The group cited unidentified reports which claimed that two zonal Vice Chairmen of the party had been contracted to the tune of N500 million to collect signatures of NWC members and ultimately pass a vote of no confidence on the Chairman.
it said: “We want to state that this plan has failed ab initio. There are also rumours that they approached the National Secretary of the party too. This move is illegal, unconstitutional and is bound to fail.
“The party and indeed the nation has moved beyond the pre-presidential primaries issues that Akande and his co-travelers are still using to destroy the party. The National Chairman ensured a free and fair primary that led to the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and mobilized the party and country by leading the campaign that led to the victory of the party in February 2023.
“The President of the country who is a savvy politician understands the nuances and undercurrent that happened then and has equally moved beyond all that. Why then should anyone bring it up now especially when we should be celebrating our victory?
“If truly these elements have keyed into the Renewed Hope agenda, they wouldn’t be instrumental in causing a deliberate stress for Mr. President as he is well occupied with the country’s success. We want to bring to the notice of our esteemed party leaders and members that these people should be warned and called to order immediately.”
Chief Akande could not be reached to react as calls to his mobile phone line were not answered.
But an APC stalwart in Osun State, who did not want his name in print, described the allegation as untrue.
He dismissed the allegation by the group as a blatant lie and figment of imagination aimed at fueling crisis in the party.
READ ALSO: Amaecom Open Head office in Abuja, Urged FG to Make..
According to him, ”allegation by a group called Asiwaju Champions Group that Chief Akande and other respected members of the party are stoking the ember of disunity is unfounded and erroneous”, adding that such should be disregarded by genuinely peace-loving members of the ruling party.
The party chieftain said Chief Akande had sacrificed and contributed a lot to the growth of APC, which he helped to form from scratch, to be labeled “rebellious” by the group.
He said: “it is rather unfortunate that political leeches that do not know how the APC was conceived and birthed could yield themselves to be used by non- progressive elements that found their ways into the APC courtesy of political magnanimity, to sow seeds of discord in the party.”
