Former Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bisi Akande has said that the emergence of Bukola Saraki as Senate President and Yakubu Dogara as Speaker of the House of Representatives was backed by Northern elites and oil barons who feel threatened by President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war.
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Akande also described the rebellion as a ‘conspiracy of the North against the Yoruba.’
The APC chieftain made the comment via a statement released on Sunday, June 28, 2015.
It reads:
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“Before the party knew it, the process had been hijacked by polluted interests who saw the inordinate contests as a loop-hole for stifling APC government’s efforts in its desire to fight corruption.”
“Most Northern elite, the Nigerian oil subsidy barons and other business cartels, who never liked Buhari’s anti-corruption political stance, are quickly backing up the rebellion against APC with strong support. While other position seekers are waiting in the wings until Buhari’s ministers are announced, a large section of the Southwest see the rebellion as a conspiracy of the North against the Yoruba.”
“Now that the whole conspiracy has blown open, it is doubtful if the present institutions of party leadership can muster the required capacity to arrest the drift. It is my opinion that President Buhari, and the APC governors should now see APC as a wrecking platform that may not be strong enough again to carry them to political victory in 2019 and they should quickly begin a joint damage control effort to reconstruct the party in its claim to bring about the promised change before the party’s shortcomings begin to aggravate the challenges of governance in their hands.”
Saraki and Dogara contested and won the positions despite being excluded by the APC via a straw poll.
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