By newspaper Report

As the APC crisis deepens, President Muhammadu Buhari has taken over the process of restoring the confidence of aggrieved members of the party.

A top-ranking member of the party’s National Working Committee confirmed the development to one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media on the issue.

The source said, “The President has chosen a different approach this time; he is meeting with the aggrieved persons directly so that he can deal with the situation.

“As you know, some of our party people go to tell him things and only the aggrieved can say what level of injustice they suffered. He even met with a delegation of aggrieved party members from Bauchi yesterday. ”

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed this development in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, on Sunday.

Shehu spoke amidst media reports that Buhari had set up a five-man committee to look into the post-primaries crises and advise him accordingly.

Media reports had it that the committee had since submitted its report to the President and that he (the President) would be meeting some critical stakeholders on Tuesday.

Although he did not give details of Buhari’s intervention, Shehu said the President was “deeply and directly involved” in the efforts aimed at ensuring peace in the party.

The presidential spokesman added that Buhari’s involvement was evident in some of his recent activities.

He said, “The President is aware of the urgency of the situation (the APC post-primaries crises) and he is dealing with the matter headlong.

“He is directly and deeply involved in how to resolve the issue as can be seen from his activities lately.”

Speaking in a similar vein, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena, expressed confidence that with President Muhammaduu Buhari as its standard bearer, the party would retain power in 2019.

He said the task before the APC was made easier by the candidates being paraded by the opposition PDP.

Nabena spoke in Abuja, on Sunday. He said the last minute declaration of support for former Vice President Atiku by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo would do nothing to stop Buhari’s victory because neither Obasanjo nor Atiku could match Buhari’s integrity.

He said “Throughout their second tenure in office, (2003-2007) and until a fortnight ago, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had described Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as a corrupt, disloyal and unpatriotic leader who was not fit and proper to handle the mantle of Nigerian leadership.

“Only recently, Obasanjo vowed that God would not forgive him if he supported the presidential aspiration of Atiku as ‘it would amount to handing Nigeria over to sharks and looters.’”

“It is this tendency towards indecision, insincerity, double talk and deception that has made Nigeria ridiculed in the eyes of the international community. A statesman is known for his principles and his statements are based on the strength of his convictions.”

This came at a time, the Senator Representing the Zamfara Central in the Senate is seeking the immediate expulsion of the state Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, from the party.

Marafa, who is seeking the APC’s governorship ticket to contest the 2019 elections, blamed the governor for the crisis which led to the Independent National Electoral Commission barring the APC from presenting candidates for the election in Zamfara.

The senator said expelling Yari was necessary “to stop the governor and his cohorts from their plot to pull down the APC and frustrate the second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari.”

He said, “The governor should be expelled for (alleged) gross indiscipline and violation of our party constitution. The measure becomes necessary to maintain party discipline and deter others that may be tempted to take similar actions to achieve their selfish objectives.”

Marafa listed 10 alleged offences committed by Yari to include “Frustrating the efforts of NWC to conduct direct primaries for Zamfara State; directing state officials to conclude an election that was cancelled by a panel that has legal authority to do so; announcing the result of an illegal election conducted by his faction in violation of subsisting court order.

“Blocking APC’s chances of fielding candidates by conducting and announcing (results of) an illegal election on 7th October 2018; causing disunity and disaffection among the APC family in Zamfara State; neglecting totally his primary responsibility of providing leadership in the face of wanton killings, raping and kidnappings of innocent people that he is being paid to protect, thereby portraying APC in bad light both locally and internationally.”

Another offence allegedly committed by Yari, according to Marafa, is “spending of Zamfara taxpayers’ money on the sponsorship of protests to remove the law-abiding National Chairman of our great party, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.”

Source: The Punch