By: Valentine Adese (JP),
The crisis currently rocking the All Progressive Congress (APC) may soon be delving towards a solution, as President Bola Ahmed Asiwaju Tinubu has being called upon to allow Sen. Tanko Almakura, the former governor of Nasarawa state to lead the party as its National Chairman.
Hon. Johnson Podar, the former Secretary of the defunct CPC chapter in Plateau State, who later became the gubernatorial candidate of the CPC in the state, in an exclusive interview with some Journalists in the state yesterday, posited that, Sen. Almakura was allegedly edged out of the National Chairmanship race of the APC in the recent past because he was perceived to be one of Sen. Tinubu’s loyalist.
“My worry here is that, most of the politicians, who later joined the merger, refused to understand the objective of the defunct CPC and the movement of Sen. Tanko Almakura hence, most of them fell by the way side when they were carried away of his Loyalty to the then National Leader of the APC, Sen. Bola Tinubu.
“Secondly, some of the present members are not looking at developments and assessing those benefiting and those sacrificing for the APC. This is because, if you look deep, you will discover that, because the CPC produced Muhammadu Buhari as the President, it has never allowed its member to contest for the National Chairman’s seat no matter where it was zoned to.
“It is therefore surprising that, now and for the first time too that we are presenting Sen. Tanko Almakura for the seat of National Chairman, a lot of people are trying to create controversy out of it.
“But we must get it right by bringing on board a reliable National Chairman, who will work with President Tinubu, and to my mind, this credible personality is Sen. Almakura”. Hon. Podar stated.
You would recall that, REALITY had reported that, the defunct CPC members in Plateau State had before the emergence of Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, as the National Chairman during the immediate past tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, had unanimously thrown their support to the bid of Sen Almakura as National Chairman of the APC and which the former State Secretary of the defunct CPC chapter in Plateau State, Hon. Podar Johnson, had given his nod to.
However, in this interview, Hon. Podar reiterated that, as a body of the defunct political parties that formed the merger called APC from Plateau State, they are making a clarion call to President Tinubu, to consider Sen Tanko Almakura for the position of the National Chairman.
Adding that, “To create an acceptable balance the National Chairman of the APC should remain in the North Central with Almakura. This also is based on established backgrounds that, after the exit of Oyegun as the National Chairman, His Excellency, the former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshomole replaced him from the South-South Zone and from the same state”. Hon. Johnson Podar, who took time to congratulate the President on his victory at the polls for the umpteenth time posited.
READ HON. JOHNSON PODAR’S REACTIONS IN PART BELOW:-
“We are calling Mr. President Tinubu, to consider Sen Tanko Almakura, to be the National Chairman of the party, as defunct CPC and ACN members in Plateau state. We have searched and we know what took place during the 2023 campaigns concerning the National Chairmanship of the party. It was glaring even then that, Sen. Almakura was a candidate to beat.
“This is because he has gained more grounds in term of acceptance across the 36 states in the country and the FCT. It was sure then that, victory was going his direction.
“We discovered that, his only SIN was identifying with and being loyal to the then party National Leader, Sen. Bola Ahamed Asiwaju Tinubu.
“You know that, Sen. Tinubu was the National Leader of the party before he became the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
“But it is an established fact that, the then power that be wanted to edge Tinubu out, just as many others.
“Some direct examples include the facts that, Oshomole lost his seat as National Chairman of the party because, he is also considered as Tinubu’s man. George Akume, could not even contest despite being a Minister under the Buhari administration. Akume was also edged out.
“In all, Sen, Almakura is a better candidate then and now. His vision during that unholy time, was still better for the APC as he had the belief that, the CPC will remain in the power block even after the exit of President Buhari within the APC.
“You would recall that, Buhari, Sen. Almakura and all of us are from the defunct CPC, which had an agreement to merge with the ACN and the ANPP.
“The leadership of the party was believed to remain within the CPC as Buhari was to bow out of the presidency.
“It is a fact that, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibajo (SAN) was from the ACN platform and the Nation Chairman was also came from the ACN during the Buhari era under review.
“So, if we are to follow the merger principles, it is expected that, Sen. Almakura would have been the right candidate from the onset.
“Taking it further, with the current administration, President Tinubu is from the ACN and when put the merger principle in place, the CPC which Sen. Almakura is an upshot of, should be the National Chairman, since the Vice President is from the platform of the ANPP.
“We are therefore worried that, this issue is not been addressed from and through the agreement derived from the merger principles.
“That was why we were proud of Almakura, when he stepped aside to allow the will of God take place when the plot to scheme him out became public during the Buhari era. His respect to also bow to the views and opinion of the then President can also be qualified as “loyalty to a fault”.
“But for us we know that, the main reason Almakura was edged out was because they perceived him to be Tinubu’s man!
“We know that, President Tinubu is a seasoned and carrier politician, being the national leader of the party and a man, who believes in reward for hard work, the hope to have Sen Tanko Almakura as the National Chairman would come to pass.
“We also know that, the President is very much aware of the political strategies used in edging out Almakura from the national chairmanship race and that God has opened another opportunity, he would not let his guards down.
“We know that, before and during the heated campaign for the national chairmanship, Almakura had gone round the states and had campaigned to the members of the APC and has expressed his intentions and vision to the people and Nigerians at large. It is our humble assessment that, since Almakura had already established a structure within the party and without and has also already gained acceptance among party faithful, his emergence would bring home the expected unity that the members desire.
“All he needs to do, if allowed is just to come and reconcile the members and the party with Nigerians. It is obvious that, Almakura has the technical administrative knowhow and being a seasoned politician he can pull the needed support(s) for Mr. President to succeed.
“You would recall that, Almakura cut his political teeth while he was a youth leader in NPN, he then became a governor on the platform of the CPC.
“As a governor, he was at that time, the second top political leader of the CPC after Buhari and was directly involved in the merger principle that gave birth to the APC.
“This is why we believe that, Almakura has the firsthand knowledge and the idea of forming the APC as a political party in Nigeria.
“It is therefore believed that, if he is allowed to be the National Chairman, he would put in all his possible best to help the party achieve all its set out goals and objectives.
“It was very sad back in the days when the party’s structure was hijacked and high level of dictatorship became the order of the day, while suppression of members to reintroduce the basic principles of democracy, progress and unity were resisted.
“As a party that development was regrettable as members never voted for kings, but leaders built on democratic tenets,
“We know our President, Bola Tinubu is a democrat and will only allow things to be done democratically and credibly under his watch.
“The fact is that, despite his affluence and influence in the democratic space of the party and in Nigeria, Tinubu had allowed himself to pass through the electioneering huddles. He won at the primary election and in the secondary election.
“Secondly, the manner of his appointments across the country is already showing that, he is a true Nigerian and lover of the unity of the country.
“It is these his efforts that has been made public that is now making us to put out a clarion call to Mr. President that, he also needs a dedicated and loyal National Chairman, who would help and support him to succeed.
“We know these qualities can be found in Sen. Tanko Almakura, the former governor of Nasarawa state.
“For other contenders for this noble seat, they need to reassess themselves. For instance, the former Governor Kano state, Alhaji Ganduje, this personality cannot be compared to Almakura even on a simply factor as acceptability among party members.
“He cannot boast of having total control of Kano state when put side by side the influence and control Almakura has in Nasarawa state and the Middle-Belt states.
“It is also a fact that, the APC promotes the principle of zoning and the North East/West cannot be said to be having advantage to have the National Chairman seat of the party as things stand today.
“As a fact, the North-West already has the Speaker of the Green Chambers and the Deputy Senate President of the National Assembly and the North East is sailing happily with Vice President and the Deputy National Chairman, while the North Central Zone is nil on these major elective officers.
“To create the expected balance, the National Chairman of the APC should remain in the North Central with Almakura, this also is based on established background that after the exit of Oyegun as the National Chairman, His Excellency, the former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshomole replaced him from the South-South Zone and from the same state”.
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