Realignment of political forces to oust President Muhammadu
Buhari from office has intensified with the imminent movement of Senate
President Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu
Dogara; and Governors Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto State), Samuel Ortom (Benue State)
and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara State), to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
THISDAY learnt Tuesday.
The
political bigwigs are dumping the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC) with scores of federal and state legislators
shortly before the July 27 scheduled recess of the National Assembly, THISDAY
further learnt.
Six other APC governors, who
consider it impolitic to move, according to multiple and reliable sources in
the know of the realignment process, would remain in the ruling party and play
the spoiler’s role as part of the strategic plan to push Buhari out of power
next year.
Already, both Tambuwal and
Ortom have dissolved their cabinets, barely a year to the end of their tenure,
to offload APC elements in their government and bring in trusted hands that
would assist them to execute their agenda.
The defections, THISDAY learnt,
are the next stanza in the strategic plan to further weaken the ruling party
after it was broken, last week, with the emergence of the reformed All
ProgressivesCongress (rAPC), which proceeded to sign a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the PDP and 38 other political parties
on Monday.
The MoU gave birth to the
Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), a gathering of opposition parties,
intent on procuring a consensus presidential candidate that would defeat Buhari and wrest
power from the APC in the impending 2019 general election.
Sources at the Senate and the
House of Representatives told THISDAY Tuesday in Abuja that the ‘’unprecedented
defection’’, which might turn the ruling party into a minority party in the
NationalAssembly, would definitely occur before the lawmakers go on recess on
July 27.
A principal officer of the
National Assembly, who was reacting to the Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) signed by PDP with other 38 political parties on Monday, while chatting
with THISDAY, said: ‘’The APC has not seen anything yet; very soon, they will
soon witness an unprecedented defection of many lawmakers from APC to PDP.
‘’This will happen before we
break for recess on July 27 this month. By the time this is done, we will turn
APC into a minority party in both chambers of the National Assembly.’’
Another senator, who pleaded
anonymity, confided in THISDAY that ‘’over 28 APC senators willdefect along
with Senate President Bukola Saraki to PDP any moment from now.’’
THISDAY gathered that the
current division within the APC, caused by the formation of the reformed All
Progressives Congress (rAPC) by some aggrieved members of the ruling
party, was deliberately carried out to enable some aggrieved lawmakers at the
state and national levels todefect, in line with the provision of the 1999
Constitution.
With the division, the
lawmakers can now defect without any legal implication that would
warrant their seats to be declared vacant.
Tambuwal, who according to
sources, is being favoured by leaders of the PDP, especially the governors, to
fly the presidential ticket of the party, is said to have secretly constituted
his presidential campaign team, with an appointment of a ‘’respected
journalist, scholar and mediaconsultant from Anambra State,’’ as his spokesman.
‘’All is now set; Governor
Aminu Tambuwal will surely return to PDP before the end of this month,’’ a
close political associate of the governor stated.
On his part, Ortom is said to
be very pushy in his move to return to PDP in the past few days because of his
huge political disagreement with his acclaimed political godfather, Senator
George Akume, allegedly instigated by the presidency.
The recent dissolution of his
cabinet that saw the removal of Akume’s loyalists, according to sources,
signalled his final decision to leave APC, coupled with the fast fading
popularity of the party in the state.
Thisdays
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