Top guns of the All Progressives Congress (APC) met in the Presidential Villa Abuja yesterday behind closed-doors for about four hours, and when they stepped out of the meeting they all kept sealed lips on the deliberations.
The meeting was presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who, it was learnt, had the mandate of his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari, to preside in his absence.
Buhari is in far away Saudi Arabia for official and spiritual duties.
But it was learnt last night that contrary to speculations that the meeting was called to reconcile big wigs of the party who were silently at daggers drawn, much of the discussion was on how to raise resources to keep the broke party afloat.
The party has been having pains meeting its financial obligations, including paying staff of its secretariat. Governors of the party, like the president, have not been forthcoming with bail-out funds for the party, many suggest, because they are watching the body language of the party’s leader, President Buhari.
“The meeting was basically to discuss matters of politics within our fold and how to raise money to run the party since President Buhari has made it clear that it would not be business as usual as was done by the opposition when they were in power,” a source said yesterday.
“He has said he will not touch the security vote and told everyone it is meant for security issues,” the source added.On speculations that the meeting was called to reconcile the three forces in contention for the soul of the party, the source flatly denied it, adding that it was also not called to find a soft landing for the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, as has been speculated in other areas.
The President’s group of loyalists, Bola Tinubu, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, are said to be the three forces within.
The source said that it was not true that the meeting was called to deal with the drift and disunity creeping into the party. He, however, said he did not know if it was true that Tinubu had a separate meeting with the Senate President to reconcile personal differences that was tearing the APC House in the Senate apart.
According to him, it is the imagination of those who say Tinubu and Atiku are working at cross purposes with the party leadership. “It is not true that Tinubu is keeping away from the party because of any cold shoulder he is receiving from anybody, and the man has made that clear in all his public pronouncements,” the source added.
Among others listed to have attended the meeting were party chairman, Chief John Odigie -Oyegun, Chief Tony Momoh, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.
Oyegun, it would be recalled, had declared weeks ago that the party he presided over was broke.
“The party is suffering the strains of funding. We are working to raise resources within the membership. We have not asked for rescue from the president because it is not part of his national assignment,” he said.
