More trouble appears to be brewing over the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a result of the ‘legislative coup’ that produced Senator Bukola Saraki as the Senate President and Yakubu Dogara as the Speaker, House of Representatives.
There are unconfirmed reports that eight APC governors have asked the party’s national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to resign over the manner he handled the lingering National Assembly crisis.
Sources said the governors, who are demanding Odigie-Oyegun’s resignation included Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Senator Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), and Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa).
These governors were said to have made their position known to the the party’s National National Chairman at the APC secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday. It was learnt that the grouse of the governors was the decision of Chief Odigie- Oyegun to endorse the emergence of Senator Saraki as Senate President and Mr Yakubu Dogara, Speaker, the House of Representatives.
However, both Odigie-Oyegun and the APC governors involved refused to speak on the issue.
The party’s national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said he was not privy to what the governors came to discuss with the national chairman in his office. He, however, insisted that the governors did not ask the National Chairman of the party to resign.
However, a source at the National Secretariat of the APC said the governors came to see the chairman on behalf of others in order to find a lasting solution to the crisis confronting the party. The source added that the party’s committee on the crisis had reached some decisions after series of meetings. According to the source, a letter would be drafted and sent to the National Assembly to convey the party’s position.
Chief Odigie-Oyegun had earlier held another meeting with the APC senators who lost out of the National Assembly leadership election. The senators, led by Ahmed Lawan, included George Akume, Kabiru Marafa, Senator Barau Jibril, Ajayi Borrofice, Olusola Adeyeye and Suleiman Hunkuyi.
Although the party has not made public the consensus reached on the issue, it was gathered the leaders of the party were determined to resolve the leadership tussle in the National Assembly, particularly in the senate, where there is still contention over the remaining four positions of principal officers between pro-Lawan and pro- Saraki senators.
It could be recalled that a few days ago, the APC deputy national publicity secretary, Mr Timi Frank, had called for the resignation Odigie-Oyegun over his handling of the National Assembly leadership crisis.
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