The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may not have legal candidates to fly its flag in the pending governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states, as the leadership crisis rocking the party deepens.
The APC faction led by Chief Victor Giadom as acting national chairman and recognised by President Muhammadu Buhari would hold a virtual National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Thursday afternoon at the Aso Rock Villa with the president in attendance.
The Presidency said on Wednesday that Buhari backed Giadom as acting chairman based on ”very convincing advice on the position of the law as far as the situation in the party is concerned.”
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The faction in support of the suspended National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole is now left clutching at straws.
A source told The Nigerian Xpress late Wednesday that with the turn of events, Oshiomhole might be forced to resign as chairman and should the different factions fail to sheath the swords, the APC may end up not having a legal chairman and secretary to transmit names of its governorship candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on or before June 29.
”The APC is in a total mess,” said the source, stressing that the presidential ambitions of some gladiators in the party were the cause of the crisis.
The contending forces are fighting for control of the APC levers at the national and the state levels to put them in vantage positions to clinch the party’s presidential ticket for 2023.
The APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu widely speculated to be nursing presidential ambition, is alleged to be one of the puppeteers in the crisis in Edo and Ondo chapters of the party. The Tinubu camp is believed to be behind the ouster of the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki from the APC primary. The faction also allegedly favours Olusola Oke to upstage the incumbent Governor Rotimi Akeredolu for the Ondo governorship election.
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The Nigerian Xpress source warned that the outcome of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections might spell doom for Tinubu’s ambition.
The APC had suffered losses in Zamfara during the 2019 general elections when its governorship and the legislative victories were upturned in the court because of faulty internal processes.
