The Caretaker Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State , Mr Tunde Balogun, has disclosed that the founding fathers of the party had an agreement in 2014 that the South -West geopolitical zone will produce the party ’ s presidential candidate for the 2023 election.
He said it would be “ dishonourable ” for the party to jettison the agreement now , adding that the President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd . ) , the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu , and many other persons made the “gentleman ’ s agreement ”.
There have been insinuations among some party members and chieftains that the resolutions of the National Executive Committee meeting , presided over by Buhari on Tuesday , was a ploy by some party chieftains to hijack the control of the party for personal interest, including scheming towards 2023 .
The NEC approved the extension of the six – month tenure of the Mai Mala Buni – led Caretaker/ Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee for another six months. It also approved the immediate dissolution of the party organs at the polling units, wards , local government , states and zonal levels as well as the non National Working Committee component of the National Executive Committee .
It thereafter approved their immediate reconstitution and composition of the dissolved excos to serve in their respective offices in a caretaker committee capacity , excluding the non – NWC members of NEC .
But speaking with our correspondent on Saturday, Balogun said , “ In 2014 , the founding fathers of APC had a gentleman ’ s agreement and they committed themselves to the agreement . The party was victorious because they honoured the agreement they made and everyone worked together for the party in 2015 and 2019 .
“ According to the 2014 agreement , the South – West should be the zone to produce the presidential candidate in 2023 . Among them ( those present) were President Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu .
“ What I want is for this agreement to be honoured by the founding fathers . I have no doubt in my mind that they are men of honour. An agreement was reached and that agreement produced Buhari as the President in 2015 and 2019 , so to jettison the agreement now will be dishonourable .
“ Like I said , they are men of honour and I hope they will honour the agreement . They know what I ’ m talking about . Anything different from following the agreement is like shifting the goalpost . ”
When asked the other parties to the agreement , Balogun declined . Asked if he also believed that the NEC resolutions were aimed at thwarting the 2014 agreement, he maintained that doing anything contrary to the agreement “ is like shifting the goal post” .
Some party members have also argued that part of motives of the resolutions was to frustrate the rumoured presidential ambition of Tinubu , Balogun maintained, “That agreement should be honoured , anything contrary is like shifting the goal post .
“ There are a lot of people who have personal agenda , pushing through all these caretaker idea and the dissolution of structures looks unconstitutional to me. Caretaker is alien to APC constitution but that is what obtains now. However , as a loyal member of the party , I don ’ t want to go against the party .
“ People, because of their personal agenda and aspirations , are trying to destroy our party and make it unstable . That should not happen. Our party ’ s interest should not be sacrificed on the altar of personal aspiration or ambition of any individual .
“ There is nothing wrong with leaders like Asiwaju ( being supported). He ’ s one of the greatest leaders we have in Africa ; he has charisma, character and he ’ s a man of his people . If he wants to aspire , it’ s his constitutional right to aspire to any position in the land . ”
Balogun ’ s revelation came as a fresh twist to the raging debate over where the ruling party would zone the presidential ticket to ahead of the 2023 election .
Former Lagos State Governor and Minister of Works and Housing , Mr Babatunde Fashola ( SAN ) , had also told journalists on November 24 that the APC had a gentleman ’ s agreement that should be honoured .
Even though the party ’ s deputy spokesperson , Yekini Nabena, had previously told The PUNCH that the party was currently not concerned about the zoning of the presidency in 2023 , some party chieftains , including a foundation member of the party from Bauchi State , Abdullahi Dauda and APC Chairman in Zamfara State , Alhaji Lawal Liman , noted that there was a zoning agreement in principle .
Meanwhile , some top APC members believed to be loyal to Tinubu , have also faulted some of the resolutions of the NEC , saying it was a ploy to frustrate Tinubu ’ s perceived presidential ambition. Even though Tinubu has yet to declare his intention to run , insinuations are rife that he might contest the party ’ s ticket for the election.
Spokesperson for aggrieved members of the APC, under the aegis of Concerned APC members , Abdullahi Dauda , described the dissolution of elected party executives as illegal , noting that it was a ploy to influence the party ’ s candidates in 2023 general elections .
He said , “ This illegal dissolution of elected executives at all levels points to one thing and one thing alone , which is to give state governors who want to be the only power bloc in the party , a free reign.
“ They want to control everything and decide who becomes what in 2023 , nothing else. This party was founded on a principle of justice and fairness ; the APC and the north alone will not have succeeded in producing President Muhammadu Buhari without the support of the South West, especially party leaders like Tinubu .
“ If anybody said this was not targeted at Tinubu , why did the NEC hold without the usual caucus meeting? Those who planned this whole thing knew that if a caucus meeting was held with people like Chief Bisi Akande and Tinubu himself attending , some of the decisions they took would not have been taken .
Also , Senator Abdul – Aziz Nyako from Adamawa State described the action as a “ bit too hasty ” , as he asked Tinubu not to lose hope .
He said , “ Perhaps , they did it a bit too early. It is very important for the APC to retain a pool of its veteran and grass root politicians . It is important that some important members of the party be retained to be in charge of the party organ .
“ Asiwaju is not a small person in Nigerian politics . As someone whose intention is to run for the presidency is not hidden , he should not sulk over the dissolution of party structure . All hope is not lost for him but he has to design another strategy . He should keep his eyes on the congresses and launch deeper into the states . ”
The National Coordinator of Tinubu 2023 Non – Negotiable , Mutiu Kunle Okunola , said it was understandable that some people felt uncomfortable with the recent developments in the party . He however said the group was more focused on mobilising for grass roots support.
In Osun State , a chieftain of the party , Mr Kolapo Alimi , said those opposed to Tinubu ’ s ambition had yet to present an alternative . He stated , “ Whoever wants to provide alternative to Asiwaju , let them provide it. Up till this moment, we have not seen any other person. I ask those oppose to him , if you don ’ t want Asiwaju, who is the person you are clamouring for ?”
