By Akombo Aondona, Abuja
The embattled National Secretary of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Sen. John James Akpanudoedehe, appeared at the national headquarters of the party in Abuja on Tuesday, 15 March, 2022 and insisted that there was no crisis in the ruling party.
Akpanudoedehe, whose sudden appearance at the party’s headquarters lasted all of 11 minutes before, again, scurrying out, managed a hurried tete-a-tate with journalists before dashing in and out of the premises.
There were speculations that the beleaguered national secretary may have come to clear his desk as the leadership crisis in the party, which pits Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State and Governor Sani Bello of Nigeria against each other, continues to fester, polarising the party’s governors along the Buni versus Bello lines
But Akpanudoedehe insisted that everything was fine with the APC and assured that the party was poised to host its thrice-postponed national convention come 26, March 2022.
His words: “I want to tell you journalists and all Nigerian, that there is no crisis in the APC. What is happening now is that the party is being resilient to the national convention. We are working closely with everyone in the party for a smooth convention, that’s all”.
However, it remains unclear what direction the party is headed with the leadership crisis and its fallouts, which actually threaten the rescheduled convention where a new national executive that would lead the party to the 2023 General Election is expected to be elected.
What everyone is sure of is that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is not ready to deal with the Bello-led leadership of the party as the electoral commission had rejected a convention notice sent to it by Governor Bello, insisting that the notice was not signed by the leadership of the APC INEC has on its records, that is Buni as chairman and Akpanudoedehe as secretary.
Whereas conflicting signals continue to emanate from President Muhammadu Buhari and the Presidency as to who they truly recognised leading the APC between Buni and Bello.
Such is the confused state of the matter that a statement purportedly representing the view or mind of President Buhari issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Garba Shehu, likened the APC crisis to the 16-year alleged misrule of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and pleaded with the warring factions in the party to sheath their swords so that the APC would not go the way of the 2015 PDP by losing the 2023 General Elections.
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