• Party wades into Yahaya, Goje face-off
Former Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on the House of Representatives, Abdulrahman Sumaila, has described the move to make former President Goodluck Jonathan the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) as a major disservice capable of ruining the party’s chance in 2023.
Insisting that Jonathan has no business in Aso Rock any longer after six years as President, Sumaila maintained that APC could produce better candidates in the South.
He stated in Kano, yesterday, that the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi; or Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba would brighten the chance of APC in the presidential election.
“I don’t think those pushing for Jonathan to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari under our great party mean well for APC. Yes, Jonathan is a reformed democrat, who deserves our commendation; but he had played his role under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”
The three-term member of the green chamber declared that those pushing for Jonathan to become APC’s candidate are not only known enemies of APC but plotting the automatic failure of the party.
MEANWHILE, the National Reconciliation Committee of APC, yesterday, succeeded in bringing both Governor Muhammadu Yahaya and Senator Danjuma Goje to an enlarged meeting in Abuja.
The National Chairman of the APC Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; senators and former governors among others attended the meeting.
A statement by the Director-General (Press Affairs), Government House, Gombe, Ismaila Misilli, noted that the meeting was held at the residence of the Chairman, APC Reconciliation Committee, former Governor Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa State.
According to Misilli, the two gladiators were given opportunity to present their cases on the face-off that polarised APC in Gombe.
Misilli said: “A robust discussion was held to unravel the problems, resolve the differences and paper all cracks within the party in the state ahead of the national convention and the 2023 general elections.
“The meeting was a continuation of the earlier one in Gombe when the Abdullahi Adamu-led committee interacted with Governor Yahaya and other senior party stakeholders, to address perceived grievances and disagreements arising from the recent party congresses in the state.”
