The leadership of the All Progressives Congress is waiting for the reconciliation committee led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu to turn in its report before going ahead to announce the modalities for its national convention, a source at the party’s headquarters said.
The Senator Adamu-led committee has already visited Lagos, Osun, Ogun, Gombe and Kano states. Apart from Gombe State where Governor Inuwa Abdullahi and Senator Danjuma Goje agreed to sheathe their swords, there has been no indication so far that Adamu’s interventions have yielded any fruit.
It was, however, learnt that the committee had not been able to get a commitment from the states to withdraw their cases while some of the aggrieved factions had handed a list of conditions to the reconciliation committee.
In Osun State, Governor Gboyega Oyetola and his predecessor, Rauf Aregbesola, who is the current Minister of Interior, have been engaged in a publicised feud. At the congresses that were conducted last year, two factions are laying claim to the APC leadership.
Mr Kolapo Alimi, the Secretary of ‘The Osun Progressives,’ a faction supported by Aregbesola in Osun APC, during an interview with one of our correspondents, said despite meeting the Adamu committee, the case instituted against the ward congress of the party would continue.
Although he did not foreclose the possibility of an out of court settlement, he explained that after the group had presented its petition before the Adamu panel, it would wait for the committee to give a report before deciding whether it would withdraw the case or not.
He said, “The court case and reconciliation can go together. The court usually encourages out-of-court settlement. After settlement, whatever is agreed upon will be made a consent judgment of the court.
“We will wait for the report of the reconciliation committee. Their report will determine what will happen to the case. We have laid down our demands. So, the case will continue.”
In Ogun State where Governor Dapo Abiodun and his predecessor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, are fighting for the soul of the party, both sides have refused to sheathe their swords.
The chairman of the party in the state loyal to Amosun, Derin Adebiyi, who spoke with one of our correspondents in Abeokuta, said he was optimistic that there would be reconciliation but there was no update as of yet.