By Kolawole Ojebisi
Members of the Caretaker Committe of the All Progressives Congress(APC) met with a National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at his Bourdillion residence in Ikoyi, Lagos State.
Former governor of Osun state and elder statesman, Chief Bisi Akande who Tinubu often refers to as his ‘political soulmate’ and Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-olu were at the meeting.
The APC Caretaker Chairman, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, led other members of the committee that included the Secretary, Senator Akpan Udoedehe; Osun State governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, and governor of Niger State, Sani Bello, to the meeting.
It was learnt that the meeting was meant to reassure Tinubu that the dissolution of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) was not targeted at him.
The NWC of the party headed by Adams Oshiomhole was dissolved last week by the party’s National Executive Committee at an emergency meeting attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, a move seen as a blow to Tinubu’s rumoured presidential ambition.8
Though the former Lagos state governor had said there was no rift between him and President Muhammadu Buhari, it appears that was not re-assuring enough for the party’s hierarchy.
In his letter titled: “Becoming the Party we were intended to be” which was written to address issues in the ruling party, Tinubu insisted that the dissolution of the party’s NWC was taken in good faith by him as it did nothing to his purported presidential dream, something he had denied.
He said, “To those who have been bleating about how Buhari’s action and the NEC meeting have ended my purported 2023 ambition, I seek your pity.”
The former senator, however stressed that “something important has gone off track.”
Many political analysts have continued to attribute different interpretations to the statement.
There are insinuations that the former Senator and his henchmen are seething with resentment and working seriously on their next move despite denial that the president’s decision to dissolve the NWC did nothing to the political ambition of Tinubu.
Also, there are speculations that the Tinubu camp may withdraw its support completely or give perfunctorily in the forthcoming Edo electioneering and the election proper.
Some have said that the dissolution of NWC was a move to jeopardize the Yoruba’s dream of having a shot at 2023 presidency.
Against this backdrop, the meeting at Tinubu’s residence is also a move to pacify the Yoruba and the entire southwest.
