Why APC Should Stop Tinubu – SKC Ogbonnia

2019 All Progressives Congress, APC presidential aspirant Dr. SKC Ogbonnia has asked party leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to step aside despite what he claimed as his notable role in fighting for democracy and helping the party win the 2015 and 2019 General Elections.

Ogbonnia in a statement titled ‘Why APC Should Tame Tinubu Before Oshiomhole’ paid tribute to Tinubu for his past efforts but said that the national leader’s quest for the 2023 presidential ticket may have distracted him from the principles he was known for.

Ogbonnia said:

“It did not come as a surprise that Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole would survive the latest move to sack him as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC). His opponents have been hitting the tail instead of the head. The gist is that Oshiomhole’s tenure of crisis cannot be divorced from the overbearing ambition of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to rule Nigeria at all costs. Therefore, instead of chasing shadows, it has become imperative to muster the courage and go all out to tame the former Lagos State governor.

“Make no mistake: Tinubu, the National Leader of APC, has every right to seek the presidency. More essentially, his role in the Nigerian democracy can never be belittled. This informs why I had to admonish President Muhammadu Buhari earlier in his first tenure for alienating the Asiwaju. I asserted then (and still believe) that, “if dynamic opposition is the life-wire of a democracy, it is very fitting then to name him (Tinubu) the saviour of Nigeria’s current democratic journey.”  Regrettably, the manner Tinubu has been pursuing his presidential ambition is not only becoming an existential threat to APC as a party but also to the same democracy he helped to save. 

 “The problem is rooted in Tinubu’s godfatherism. The canker began to grow when the Asiwaju was made to believe that he solely influenced the nomination of Buhari. Further, after his failed bid to grab the vice-presidential ticket, Tinubu was allowed to handpick his longtime ally for the position, so that peace could reign. Worst still, the former Lagos State governor would retain the titular title of National Leader, thereby creating an impression of two captains in one ship.

‘As if that was not enough, he attempted to also dictate the leadership of the Legislature but failed. This failure, remember, led to the first major crisis in the party and the mass decampment that followed before the 2019 general elections.”

“The most mystifying, however, is that, despite the fact that his primary fiefdom, Lagos, is constantly ranked as one of the worst estates on earth, it has not deterred Tinubu from the morbid desperation to rule other Nigerian states by proxy.

“Enter Adams Oshiomhole. President Buhari misread him as a simplistic khaki-wearing independent-minded party man who could contain Tinubu. But Oshiomhole was understandably desperate for attention after leaving office as Edo State governor and did not want to end the Oyegun way. The new chairman quickly accepted to function as a mere lackey. Oshiomhole’s main function, therefore, has been to perfect Tinubu’s plot to install his cronies across the country towards a presidential bid.  

 “Not surprisingly, the APC would go on to suffer the most crisis-ridden party primary exercise in the national history. Every APC structure, from the states to the federal, including the Legislature, and President Buhari and his cabinet, had a bitter taste of the crisis. Only Coronavirus could have been as toxic and widespread. The saving grace for the APC in the 2019 electoral cycle was that the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), the main opposition party, fielded a deeply flawed presidential candidate in Atiku Abubakar.”

Send Us A Press Statement Advertise With Us Contact Us

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG