Crisis in APC NWC over choice of scribe

The crisis rocking the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) deepened yesterday, as members of its National Working Committee (NWC) were neck-deep in a shouting march over the choice of Waziri Bulama as the new National Secretary of the party.

Bulama, who hails from Borno State, is angling to replace Malam Mai Mala Buni from Yobe State, who resigned his position as national secretary of the party, to vie for the governorship position in Yobe State on the APC platform in the 2019 election.

However, the issue of Buni’s replacement led to a stormy session when the NWC members met at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

The APC’s National Vice Chairman (North-East), Mr. Mustapha Salihu, who walked out of the parley, accused Oshiomhole of going out of his ways to impose Bulama as national secretary of the party under the pretext that he was acting on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Salihu, who spoke with reporters, said that the move by Oshiomhole ran contrary to the laid down rules and regulations of the party.

Arguing that Oshiomhole lacks the locus standi to parade himself as national chairman of the party in view of a subsisting court order, he vowed to resist the attempt to foist Bulama on the party against the wishes of stakeholders of the party in the North-East geo-political zone.

He said that he was at a loss why Oshiomhole is not ready to toe the practice of replacing an NWC member from the state where the position was originally zoned to.

According to him: “I am here just to give you a brief of what transpired just now, the illegality that just transpired now. This has been prevalent in this party since Adams Oshiomhole took over. There is never a time for official meetings.

“You are forming electoral committees at night before elections. That was the reason why we have all the problems we have during the general elections. The party was moved from the National Secretariat to Aso Drive. This illegality has continued.”

But when contacted, the National Legal Adviser, Mr. Babatunde Ogala, said it was untrue that there was a shouting march during the NWC parley held behind closed doors.