Speculations have shown that some Governors in the north, including those elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), may work for the presidential ambition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar.
The claim is coming weeks after the presidential candidate of APC, Bola Tinubu, created an organ called grassroot Independent Campaign Council (ICC).
Recall that the ruling party, APC had earlier experienced a cold war over the constitution of its presidential campaign council.
An issue which saw the party release different lists, before the last list was eventually accepted by the National Working Committee (NWC) and the governors of the party.
In Tinubu’s effort to emerge victorious in 2023, he appointed his trusted loyalists as chairmen of the grassroots campaign council in state chapters.
Members of the campaign council are not answerable to their state governors, as the governors have no hand in their appointment.
Reports show that the temporary operational office of the council in Maitama, Abuja has been moved to a new office near the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.
Read also: 2023: APC Has Nothing To Offer, Tinubu’s Health, Education, Past, in Doubt – Atiku
A source said, “The governors have been angry since they got wind of the composition of the ICC. Because the new body does not enjoy their buy-in, their inauguration was low-key.
“Members were invited for a retreat but some of them knew it was actually their inauguration.”
The Director, Media and Publicity of the APC presidential campaign council, Bayo Onanuga, reacting to the governor’s displeasure said no governor has expressed reservation over the establishment of the ICC.
According to Onanuga, “That isn’t true. No governor is complaining; no governor has come out to complain. It is a mere rumour. That’s mere invention.”
The spokesperson of Tinubu–Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo also said there is no cold war between Tinubu and the governors over the creation of ICC.
He said, “There is no single governor that is unhappy about this. Politics is a game of numbers. The more we have volunteers, the better for us.”
Reports show that a source in the party stated that Tinubu is suspicious of the half-hearted commitment of certain governors from the North to his ambition.
The source claimed that the issue made Tinubu endorse the creation of the ICC when it was raised with him.
The source also said one of the APC governors in the North-East state “is romancing the Atiku camp and Tinubu has got wind of the moves of the unfriendly governor.”
Further revelation from the source show that a former National Security Adviser from North-West has been mobilising support for Atiku Abubakar among governors in the North including those of the APC.
“They are reaching out to the Northern governors, particularly to those from the North-West and the North-East. The message is that Atiku Abubakar is their own and he must not be left in the cold.” The source added.
