How APC leadership is wooing Osinbajo, Lawan, Amaechi, others to support Tinubu – Adamu reveals

The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Abdullahi Adamu, has hinted that there are ongoing efforts to resolve differences that emanated from the conduct of the Party’s presidential primary election in June.

Adamu, who has been lukewarm in his support for the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, stated this on Thursday during an interview with newsmen.

Almost all the presidential aspirants who lost out in the June 8 Special Presidential Convention of the party, have not been heard and have so far failed to express their support for Tinubu.

Prominent among them are the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and former Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi.

Osinbajo has also not been included in the presidential campaign council of the party.

Lawan and Amaechi were rather named as advisers in what is being seen as an inactive role and a relegation having seen that they will not take active role regardless of the role they are given.

Others including former governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, have seen their names dropped after being initially included in the 422-member list released a few weeks ago.

A meeting of former presidential aspirants called twice failed to be held.

Speaking on why Osinbajo, Lawan and Amaechi have not stated their commitment to the presidential bid of the party, Adamu shocked everyone when he said, “To the best of our knowledge, they are keying into this project. However, each of the aspirants at the convention is still alive and as journalists, you owe it a duty having observed or having the state of mind that requires knowing where they stand today.

“It will be a bit absurd for me to start talking to them about things I feel you have not seen or heard from them.

“As for reconciliation, it is still a work in progress and we have been doing it. We have been talking to them and these guys are still very much around the political space. You can ask them whatever your observations are”.

Adamu also spoke about the state of affairs of the party, accusing the caretaker committee which held the party leadership before him of corruption.

Without mentioning the Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni, who was the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, CECPC, chairman said, “The fact of the matter is, go round the secretariat, there is no one person who has come here who is a member of my family – primary or secondary.

“When we came here, we came to reorganize and reposition the party. You don’t see the party in a state of mess and just because you want to be decent because you don’t want to offend anybody, you allow the rot that you inherited to go on.

“We came and met the party where people were fixing all manner of things, the legal bill alone was over N7.5 billion. We came to find that here, everybody was on his own.

“Everyone was just doing what they wanted to do, with no control, no system, no due process and just because you don’t want to be accused of anything, you just allow that kind of thing to go on,” he stated.

He pointed out that, “I am not that brand. My DNA has terrible allergies for that and I am sure most, if not all of my members in the NWC share in this.

“So, we found the necessity to reorganize the whole place and only God knows the extent of appreciation of the public that we got.

“Of course, every situation of change has its victims and ours will not be an exception. We didn’t do anything with any bias or prejudice,” he defended the sacking of some directors and hiring of new ones.

According to the former Nasarawa State governor, what’s most important is the party.

He said, “The main thing is the interest of the party, to reposition it in an election year. We will be abused, we will be falsely accused.

“Of course, we are humans, I am not saying we couldn’t have made one or two mistakes but the fact of the matter is that there is nothing we have done deliberately just to promote our own feathers.

“Recently, we tried to introduce table payment. We know we don’t have 200 people working here but if you go to the payroll, you have over 200 people.

“Who are they? How did they come on our payroll? What are they doing for us? What is the nature of their jobs? Where are their letters of appointment? What qualifications do they have?

“You don’t because you want to avoid negative press and then not do this. We did everything in good faith and I don’t have any qualms about it”, he added.